Chapter 304: Is This Really the Great Wilderness?
Each of the Four Great Fierce Beasts of the East Continent possessed power exceeding the Earth Profound Realm. The Great Wilderness was especially terrifying. In the past, even three Earth Profound Realm experts who had joined forces to destroy it failed, ultimately ending up as food in its belly. Besides the Celestial Eye, it was the most fearsome Fierce Beast in all of the East Continent.
It had once caused a tremendous uproar across the East Continent.
That was, until the ancestor of Tianze appeared and battled it for seven days and seven nights. Only then did the Great Wilderness go dormant in the Celestial Lake Swamp, never again venturing out to cause trouble.
And now, this very Great Wilderness had appeared within their Tianze Kingdom.
But their ancestor was long gone.
How could this not fill everyone with terror?
"ROAR!"
The colossal Great Wilderness threw its head back and roared.
A massive black shadow flashed across the sky as one of the Great Wilderness’s sharp claws swept out.
"RUMBLE!"
A huge section of rock was instantly sheared off the summit of Ancestor Mountain.
Even Xu Hong, its Summoner, was suddenly struck by one of the Great Wilderness’s paws.
With a splurt, he spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood in mid-air, his face turning deathly pale.
Evidently, the Great Wilderness was so savage that not even Xu Hong could control it.
The crowd cried out in alarm and scrambled back, fleeing in all directions.
"ROAR!"
The colossal Great Wilderness roared and swiped its massive claw through the sky.
Several disciples of the Celestial Profound Sacred Land were caught in its grip.
Then, they traced a graceful arc through the sky as the Great Wilderness tossed them into its mouth.
"CRUNCH! CRUNCH!"
After a few chews, they were swallowed whole.
A sharp light shot from the Great Wilderness’s eyes. It turned its head, exuding a chilling aura as it searched for new prey.
At that moment, its gaze met Shen Daoxing’s.
But upon seeing Shen Daoxing, the Great Wilderness froze. As if it had seen something terrifying, its once-vicious eyes widened into perfect circles.
The next moment, the Great Wilderness seemed to jump in fright. Its body paused, then rapidly began to shrink, until in just a few moments, it was no bigger than the palm of a hand.
Only then did the crowd get a clear look at the Great Wilderness’s true form: a gray-furred rat with a pointed head.
Shen Daoxing, however, was all too familiar with this rat. It was none other than the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat.
So the Great Wilderness was the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat.
Shen Daoxing stared blankly for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.
After revealing its true form, it didn’t hesitate for a second. Its eyes darted about, and with a leap of its four legs, it dove toward a nearby fissure, intending to burrow underground and escape.
This time, however, Shen Daoxing wasn’t about to let it get away. His figure flashed, and he instantly appeared in front of the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat. He reached out, pinched the scruff of its neck, and lifted it up.
The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat’s legs flailed wildly in the air. Seeing that it couldn’t break free from Shen Daoxing’s grip, it could only bring its two front paws together and shake them desperately in a plea for mercy, continuously nodding its pointed little head at him.
Then, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat suddenly raised one of its paws toward the sky.
"SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!"
It squeaked nonstop as if swearing an oath to the heavens. Then it widened its round eyes and looked at Shen Daoxing as pitifully as it possibly could.
Seeing that Shen Daoxing still looked menacing, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat hurriedly spat out several translucent, sparkling ores, looking up at Shen Daoxing as if presenting a priceless treasure.
"I am going to form a master-servant contract with you."
Shen Daoxing’s indifferent voice drifted down from above.
The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat suddenly shivered, clearly hesitant. But when it saw Shen Daoxing’s ferocious expression, it quickly nodded its head.
Shen Daoxing raised two fingers and began to murmur. Suddenly, a speck of red light floated out from the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat’s forehead, drifted over to Shen Daoxing’s own forehead, and melted into his mind.
Shen Daoxing felt his mind connect to something. The master-servant contract was complete.
Xu Hong, the Tianze Emperor, He Qian... everyone was completely dumbfounded.
They never would have imagined that the true form of the previously ferocious Great Wilderness was just an ordinary rat.
They were even more shocked that the Great Wilderness, ranked second among the Four Great Fierce Beasts, would grovel so obsequiously before Shen Daoxing and directly submit to him as its master.
’Is this really the Great Wilderness, one of the Four Great Fierce Beasts?’
Xu Hong’s body trembled. He took a staggering step forward in disbelief and shouted, "Great Wilderness, you are one of the Four Great Fierce Beasts of the East Continent! What are you doing?"
"SQUEAK!"
A red glint flashed in the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat’s eyes as it suddenly glared at Xu Hong, its gaze filled with fury.
’He’d been hiding perfectly fine underground, but this old bastard had used a Secret Technique to trick him out. If it weren’t for this old coot, he wouldn’t have been caught by this hateful guy in front of him!’
’It was all this old bastard’s fault!’
"SQUEAK!"
The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat shrieked, then abruptly vanished. The next instant, it reappeared in front of Xu Hong.
In the blink of an eye, the rat’s head suddenly swelled, becoming larger than Xu Hong’s entire body.
Then, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat opened its massive, blood-red maw.
With a single SNAP, Xu Hong was swallowed by the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat, given no chance to resist.
In an instant, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat shrank back to its original palm-sized form, though its belly was now bulging.
The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat contentedly patted its belly and let out a heavy burp.
And just like that, the instigator of this whole affair was devoured by a rat.
The onlookers, startled, retreated again. Not a single person dared to doubt that this inconspicuous rat was indeed the Great Wilderness.
Everyone stood stunned for a moment before turning to look at Shen Daoxing with even greater shock.
At that moment, the Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat had already returned to Shen Daoxing. It hopped about excitedly, waving its claws as if seeking praise for having eliminated its master’s enemy.
But Shen Daoxing’s indifferent voice cut in, "From now on, you are not to eat people without my permission."
The Golden-Eyed Treasure-Seeking Rat froze, looking suddenly aggrieved, but it still nodded quickly.
Before Shen Daoxing, the Great Wilderness, one of the Four Great Fierce Beasts, showed no temper at all.
An instant silence fell over the area as everyone stared at each other in bewilderment.
After a long moment, the Tianze Emperor’s resonant voice finally broke the silence:
"Seize all of these scoundrels from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land! Throw them in the Tianze dungeons!"
"SHING! SHING! SHING!"
Immediately, Generals Peng Yue, Deng Fang, and Yuan Yuan drew their weapons. With a wave of their hands, they directed the Tianze soldiers to surround the remaining disciples of the Celestial Profound Sacred Land.
The people of Tianze had been deeply afflicted by the poison of the Elixirs and the Dark Technique. But now that the controller of the Dark Technique’s power was dead, the poison in their bodies naturally dissipated.