Chapter Sixty-Four: Issuing a Challenge

Chapter 64: Issuing a Challenge (Second Update)

The gathering place of the Leopard clan was a basin featuring numerous caves densely layered together, resembling a hollowed-out beehive.

The leopard-headed soldiers all lived within these caves.

Among them, a gigantic cave served as the dwelling place of the Leopard King.

"This really looks quite magnificent," Zhou Yu said, standing above the basin and gazing at the densely packed caves.

"Could it be that I have arrived at some sort of headquarters?" Zhou Yu muttered with a self-deprecating smile.

The Colorful Monkey had no idea what Zhou Yu was talking about. He stared at the dense maze of caves below, mentally estimating the number of leopard-headed soldiers.

Flanking that enormous cave were at least a hundred larger caves, scattered around it and guarding it in the center like stars surrounding the moon.

Pointing at those larger caves, Zhou Yu asked, "Are those where the demon general-tier leopard-headed soldiers live?"

Following the direction of Zhou Yu's finger, the Colorful Monkey narrowed his eyes for a moment before replying, "Indeed they are! Look at how grand they are! We must have Ah Fei come and take a look so we can build something like this when we get back."

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "There's no need."

"This place will be ours very soon. Why would there be any need to go back to Flower Fruit Mountain, ruin the ecological environment, and dig caves?"

Zhou Yu joked, appearing extremely relaxed.

The Colorful Monkey scratched the back of his head and said, "Put that way, I suppose so, though it still feels a bit surreal."

The two stood firm at the top of the basin, looking at each other.

"How should we shout?"

"Just shout like that."

"Who's going to shout?"

"Naturally, you are."

After brewing for a long time, the Colorful Monkey drooped his shoulders and said, "Though I am not afraid, I truly have no talent for public speaking."

Zhou Yu sighed and said, "I'm pondering a question: should we challenge the Demon King first, or the demon generals?"

"The Demon King, decisively! If you challenge the demon generals, there are over a hundred of them. Besides, if you win, you'll still have to fight the Demon King in the end anyway," the Colorful Monkey said.

Zhou Yu snapped his fingers and said, "You're right."

"Leopard King! We are here to deliver grain!" Zhou Yu shouted at the top of his lungs.

Infusing the shout with the energy within his body, the rolling waves of sound were almost visible to the naked eye.

The soundwaves shook the accumulated snow around the rim of the basin so violently that massive sheets slid down, actually blocking many of the caves.

"Why did you yell like that?" the Colorful Monkey asked in astonishment.

"How else should I yell?" Zhou Yu retorted.

"You should be cursing!"

"Yet I feel shouting this way is better; it leaves room to advance or retreat. Wouldn't it be better to first see what kind of creature this Leopard King really is? As the saying goes, know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles."

"If you wanted to look, you should have hidden while looking!"

"Why didn't I think of that?"

And so, the man and the monkey very spinelessly sprawled out on the snow, leaving only two pairs of eyes exposed to peer into the basin.

Down in the basin, a robust figure emerged from the colossal cave—a humanoid leopard.

From all the densely packed caves around, leopard-headed soldiers began crawling out.

At the mention of grain, these fellows, who had originally been hiding in their caves sleeping, all rushed out with green, glowing eyes, gathering in the center of the basin.

"Damn! So many! It's just like ants moving house!" the Colorful Monkey exclaimed in shock. Although he knew the Leopard clan possessed fifty thousand soldiers, mere numbers could never compare to the visual impact of the actual scene before him.

Furthermore, over a hundred sturdy and mighty demon generals stood imposingly in the arena, clearly distinguishable from the ordinary leopard-headed soldiers.

"Who was shouting just now?" A deep, resonant voice echoed, and the chaotic basin instantly fell silent, save for the howling of the wind.

The Leopard King stood bare-chested; his voice sounded like a peal of thunder, vibrating the snow near Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey to the point of rustling.

"Truly worthy of being a supreme Demon King!" the Colorful Monkey remarked.

"Shall we go up?" Zhou Yu asked.

The Colorful Monkey gritted his teeth and said, "If we don't go up now, when will we?"

With that, the man and the monkey scrambled up from the snow and shouted in unison, "Leopard King! I'm going to kick your ass! If you've got the guts, come and fight me for three hundred rounds!"

Swish! As if driven by the sound itself, the gazes of fifty thousand leopard-headed soldiers snapped instantly toward Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey.

Though gazes could not inflict physical harm, being watched by so many fierce and violent ferocious beasts still made Zhou Yu feel a twinge of fear. The Colorful Monkey was no better off; although this fellow was practically unkillable, the thought of being beaten by so many people was certainly unpleasant!

"What kind of petty scoundrels are you, daring to utter such wild words!" The Leopard King roared at the two figures standing atop the basin.

The physical shockwave of his roar blew Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey back a step.

"Is this the Lion's Roar?" Zhou Yu asked, feeling a jolt of alarm. Separated by nearly a kilometer, a single roar from the Leopard King had actually forced him back a step!

"Hmph! Merely two demon generals, and yet you dare come to challenge this old man! What has the world come to?" the Leopard King bellowed angrily, though this time he did not roar in the direction of Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey.

The hundred-plus demon generals dropped to their knees in unison: "We are willing to worry on behalf of the Great King and execute these two petty thieves!"

The Leopard King turned and strode back toward his cave. In his eyes, Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey, being mere demon general-tier entities, were utterly unworthy of his personal intervention.

"Go! Bring me their heads!" the Leopard King commanded the moment his figure was swallowed by the darkness.

"As you command!" The hundred-plus demon generals moved as one, charging furiously toward Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey. Though numbering only a hundred, their momentum was earth-shattering, resembling an army of thousands!

Zhou Yu and the Colorful Monkey were stunned. These were over a hundred demon generals! Combined, even the Leopard King himself might not necessarily be able to subdue them easily!

"Hahaha, the Leopard clan are truly a bunch of cowards! Your King dares not accept the challenge, so he sends his underlings to swarm us with human-wave tactics? And you even boast of being the premier tribe in the Northern Frontier—what an absolute joke!" Zhou Yu suddenly burst into laughter, channeling his inner energy to shout at the top of his lungs.

The charge of the hundred-plus demon generals faltered for a fraction of a second before resuming at high speed.

Indeed, among the demon tribes, the strong were revered, and challenges were normally accepted. However, the disparity in power between the Leopard King and the challengers was vast. While these demon generals felt a slight unease, it was still within acceptable bounds.

"Stop!" The Leopard King's figure reappeared at the cave entrance. He stared intently at the Colorful Monkey and Zhou Yu.

Compared to ordinary demon soldiers and generals, he cared far more about his own reputation.

"Little Black! You go!" The Leopard King called out the name of a demon general, ordering him to fight single-handedly.

That entirely black leopard-headed soldier shot forward like a sharp arrow.

Zhou Yu nodded to the Colorful Monkey, then gripped his oversized spiked club and stepped forward to meet him.

The black demon general stood a zhang tall, looking like a heavenly soldier, dragging a long, heavy horse-chopping saber behind him.

Clang!

Zhou Yu swung his spiked club fiercely. The leopard-headed soldier hurriedly raised his saber to parry, but the sheer impact drove him downward.

Zhou Yu possessed immense physical strength, though he couldn't fully unleash it using a club of this size. Even so, thanks to his advantage in raw power, a single exchange was enough to drive the robust leopard-headed soldier crashing down into the accumulated snow.

In that very clash, the spiked club had lost a few of its spikes, while the leopard-headed soldier's massive saber had suffered a huge, jagged notch.

A cold glint flashed in the Leopard King's eyes as he snorted, "He has some skill!"

He was just about to order another demon general forward.

Zhou Yu had already landed beside the demon general who had been blasted into the snow, raised his spiked club, and smashed it down fiercely.

Though the leopard-headed soldier managed to block in time with his horse-chopping saber, this time the weapon shattered completely, and the spiked club directly pulverized his head into a pulp.

"Courting death!" Zhou Yu had slain a demon general right under the Leopard King's nose, provoking immense fury. However, this was a fair one-on-one duel, so he could not openly vent his rage.

"Ah San! You go!" The Leopard King commanded a second demon general to enter the arena.

Zhou Yu stood amidst the snow, leaning on his spiked club with a relaxed expression. Not far away, the black leopard-headed soldier lay dead, having met a most wretched end with his entire head blown apart. Blood splattered everywhere, staining the surrounding ground crimson within a radius of a zhang.

An oversized leopard-headed soldier, standing a full two zhang tall, lumbered out from the pack. He carried a massive hammer—one end flat, the other pointed.

Known by the Leopard King as Ah San, this soldier was clearly a strength-type brawler. Without so much as a greeting, he snorted, flexed his muscles, and shoved two ordinary leopard-headed soldiers out of his way.

Zhou Yu sized up this behemoth; the fellow was several times taller than him, and his arms were as thick as Zhou Yu's waist.

Having intentionally used brute force to crush the previous black-furred demon general, Zhou Yu's goal had been to trick them into thinking he was a strength-oriented fighter. Now the opponent had clearly taken the bait, dispatching such a muscle-bound monster.

To be honest, given the sheer size of this fellow, Zhou Yu truly felt a bit overwhelmed. But as the mountain-like leopard-headed soldier closed in, Zhou Yu hardened his heart and decided to meet his strength head-on!

Casually tossing aside his spiked club, Zhou Yu loosened his joints while fixing a provocative glare upon the towering beast.

The leopard-headed soldier was clearly of the simple-minded, muscle-bound variety. Seeing Zhou Yu discard his weapon, he threw down his own massive hammer without a second thought.

Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief internally. He had been dreading a weapon fight against this guy, because his own club weighed only about three hundred catties, whereas the hammer carried by this leopard was visually at least eight hundred catties. A weapon clash would have put him at a severe disadvantage.

"You! Trash!" Zhou Yu arrogantly flipped a middle finger at the bulky giant before him.

"Aiyaya!" Roaring, the giant lunged at Zhou Yu.

Come on! Timing the trajectory of the punch, Zhou Yu unleashed a fierce counter-punch, channeling all his internal energy into his fist.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, the massive leopard-headed soldier staggered back a few steps.

Zhou Yu landed lightly on the ground, looking completely at ease.

The giant leopard-headed soldier stared at Zhou Yu in disbelief. He simply couldn't fathom how such a tiny fellow could possess strength capable of matching his own!

Wiping his fists, the gargantuan beast let out a floor-shaking roar and lunged again.

Zhou Yu noticed that this time, the brute had infused his strike with demon qi; the force of this punch was at least twice as strong as the previous one!

Yet Zhou Yu showed not a trace of fear. His legs flexed violently, instantly compressing the snow beneath his feet and cracking the frozen earth into a spiderweb of fissures.

His body shot forward like a cannonball to meet the charge.

Boom!

With another deafening blast, Zhou Yu was sent hurtling backward, while the massive leopard-headed soldier toppled over backward onto the ground.

The kinetic force generated by their collision whipped the surrounding snowflakes into a swirling frenzy, resembling a heavy blizzard.

"Nice!" Zhou Yu shouted, leaping out from the snowdrift.

Cries of astonishment rose from the distant crowd of leopard-headed soldiers.

Judging by that direct collision of fists, they had all assumed Zhou Yu would be blasted to death. No demon general had ever survived a clash of pure strength against Ah San!

Yet not only was Zhou Yu alive and kicking, but he was also shouting out in high spirits.

"Damn it!" Picking up his massive frame, Ah San was truly enraged. Why wasn't this little punk dead yet?

Ah San's right fist trembled slightly, but the fierce light in his eyes grew even more savage.