Chapter 150: Hunting Down a Grandmaster Demon

Watching the two Grandmasters vanish into the depths of the ancient battlefield, Lu Yan quietly retreated, putting some distance between himself and the battleground to observe from afar.

Here, he could advance to attack and retreat to defend; the moment anything went awry, he could immediately flee.

He could not afford to be careless.

Even with the two Grandmasters entering, success was not guaranteed. What if a Grandmaster-level fiend made a desperate, suicidal charge out and went on a rampage against the human martial marquises?

He had to be on his guard.

It was better to be prudent and wait until he was certain there was no threat before hunting fiends.

Roar!

A moment later, a heaven-shaking roar erupted from the depths of the ancient battlefield. Even though they were separated by more than ten miles, the sound of the roar still made people's hearts race and chilled them to the bone.

Quite a few people involuntarily stepped backward, cold sweat dampening their palms.

The timid ones even had the urge to turn around and run.

Rumble!

Shortly after, the ground trembled, and a horde of fiends rushed outward from the ancient battlefield.

"Kill!"

The human martial marquises charged forward, engaging the fiends in a fierce melee.

Lu Yan observed the situation and, confirming there were no Grandmaster-level fiends, leaped forward. With a single blade strike, he cleaved a tier-two martial marquis fiend in half, while simultaneously reaching out with his left hand to snatch a fiend crystal.

Then, he rushed toward a tier-four martial marquis fiend.

All around, many experts on the Martial Marquis Ranking were trying their utmost, displaying their unique skills to hunt the fiends.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yan caught sight of Li Wenxuan, Li Wenxin, Ouyang Zeng, Gao Wanping...

Roar!

Suddenly, a bone-chilling roar shook the area. An extraordinarily massive fiend, resembling a black bear, charged out.

This fiend stood nearly five meters tall, its bear paws as huge as water vats. As it ran, the ground thundered, leaving behind a massive crater with every step it took.

Thud!

A human tier-two martial marquis expert failed to dodge in time and was struck by the giant bear fiend. His body directly exploded into a puddle of bloody mush.

"A Grandmaster! It's a Grandmaster-level fiend."

Many people were shocked.

Lu Yan was also startled, rapidly dodging far away to put a safe distance between himself and the beast.

However, this Grandmaster fiend did not stop to slaughter the human martial marquises; instead, it ran in a straight line.

Because it was injured—badly injured.

Half of its head was gone, and pitch-black blood continuously streamed down its body.

On its chest and abdomen were two huge holes that even the formidable vitality of a fiend struggled to heal.

Its aura was also clearly withered; as it ran, its steps were visibly unsteady and staggering.

Even so, no one dared to challenge it head-on. Wherever the giant bear fiend passed, the human martial marquises scattered to give way.

Soon, the giant bear fiend broke through the encirclement of the human martial marquises and bolted toward the distant mountain forest.

No human Grandmasters pursued it from behind.

Many people felt a chill in their hearts. Could the two elderly Grandmasters have met with misfortune inside?

"Everyone, do not panic. There should be two Grandmaster-level fiends in this ancient battlefield. One of them was on the verge of death, which must be the one right now. The two Grandmasters were likely held back by the other Grandmaster-level fiend, allowing this mortally wounded one to escape. This is also our chance—an opportunity to hunt a Grandmaster-level fiend."

Li Wenxin's voice rang out among the crowd.

A fiery light appeared in the eyes of quite a few people.

If they could obtain a Grandmaster-level fiend crystal, a top-three finish would be guaranteed, and it could also be exchanged for a vast amount of resources.

Many people had already quietly followed after the giant bear fiend.

Lu Yan spotted Gao Wanping, Ouyang Zeng, Li Wenxin, and others.

There were over a dozen people in total. Every single one of them was a top expert, either already on the Martial Marquis Ranking or very close to it.

However, Li Wenxuan did not follow.

Lu Yan hesitated for a moment and chose not to follow immediately, continuing instead to hunt the scattered, fleeing fiends.

As the number of fiends he slew increased, his efficiency in killing them also rose.

Every strike hit straight at the vital points, extracting the fiend crystals at the very first moment and leaving the creatures unable to resist.

In a short span of time, ten martial marquis-level fiends died at Lu Yan's hands.

"Should I follow and take a look?"

Lu Yan pondered inwardly, still preoccupied with that Grandmaster-level fiend.

Ultimately, Lu Yan decided to trail behind and take a look.

However, he constantly reminded himself not to be greedy; following along was purely to observe, and without absolute certainty, he would never strike.

Executing the Cloud-Treading Step to its absolute limit, Lu Yan moved like a gust of wind, rushing in the direction of the giant bear fiend.

The giant bear fiend had left massive footprints where it ran, so there was no need to worry about losing the trail.

Following the footprints, Lu Yan leaped among the tree branches, and within the time it took to burn two sticks of incense, he caught sight of the figures ahead.

The giant bear fiend's running speed was getting slower and slower, and its pace grew increasingly unsteady.

Meanwhile, the dozen or so human martial marquises were in no rush to attack; they spread out and followed covertly.

Lu Yan also slowed his pace, tailing them unhurriedly from behind.

Thud!

Suddenly, the giant bear fiend staggered and crashed to the ground. Its massive, bulky body struggled on the ground a few times before crawling back up to continue forward.

Still, no one attacked.

"Everyone is being very cautious," Lu Yan thought to himself.

These people possessed immense self-control; none of them rushed forward rashly.

After running another five or six miles, the giant bear fiend collapsed to the ground once more.

This time, the giant bear fiend struggled several times without managing to stand up. Its enormous body lay there, twitching continuously, before gradually falling still.

"Dead?" The eyes of the crowd lit up.

Yet, for a moment, still no one made a move.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of theoriole behind.

There were many people following along; whoever struck first, even if they successfully acquired the fiend crystal, would likely become the target of public wrath.

Among the mountain forest, a dead silence fell, broken only by the howling mountain wind and the rustling of leaves.

Time ticked away second by second, and a dozen minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

The giant bear fiend still remained motionless.

None of the hidden experts made a move either.

However, a small number of people were beginning to grow restless.

Just then, footsteps came from afar as a team of three martial marquises walked toward the area.

These three clearly had not visited the ancient battlefield earlier and had been searching for fiends nearby instead.

They spotted the fallen giant bear fiend at a glance.

"Such a huge fiend."

The three were startled at first, but upon noticing that the giant bear fiend was completely motionless, they set their minds at ease.

"It looks dead."

"Such a massive fiend must be a tier-five martial marquis. I wonder if the fiend crystal has been dug out. If not, that's a hundred battle merits."

"Let's cut it open and check."

The few discussed among themselves and walked toward the giant bear fiend.

Of course, they did not dare lower their guard; all of them held their weapons in defensive postures, approaching with extreme caution.

Whoosh!

Just as the three drew close, the giant bear fiend suddenly moved, its vat-sized bear paw sweeping outward horizontally.

The two martial marquises closest to it were struck by the paw; before they could even let out a scream, they were smashed into bloody pulp.

The remaining one was scared nearly out of his wits and turned to run.

The giant bear fiend leaped forward and brought its foot down, stomping that martial marquis into a smear of mud.

The hidden onlookers felt a cold shiver run down their spines, especially those who had just wanted to attack earlier; cold sweat drenched them.

Fortunately, they hadn't struck.

What an old fox.

After killing the three martial marquises, the giant bear fiend staggered, unable to even stand steadily. After swaying a few times, it slowly began to lumber forward.

Yet, before it had even covered five hundred meters, it collapsed face-first to the ground again and fell completely still.

This time, even fewer people dared to strike.

The injuries on this giant bear fiend were undoubtedly extremely severe, but a fiend's vitality was terrifyingly strong. No one could guarantee whether this giant bear still had the strength for a suicidal counterattack.

It was a Grandmaster-level creature, after all.

After a while, the giant bear fiend still showed no movement.

Swoosh, swoosh...

In the end, a few people couldn't help themselves anymore. Instead of charging out in person, they attacked with bows and arrows. Several metal arrows whistled through the air, piercing into the giant's body.

However, the Grandmaster-level giant's hide was tough and thick, making it difficult for the arrows to penetrate deeply. They sank in only an inch before getting wedged in the muscle.

Yet the arrows did not stop; a few more were fired.

This time, they aimed at the giant bear's bloodied, mangled half-head.

Thud, thud...

The arrows embedded themselves in the head, and still the giant bear showed no reaction.

It was truly dead.

If it weren't dead, how could it remain motionless with arrows piercing its injured head?

A few people finally lost their restraint and rushed out.

There were three of them in total, all tier-five martial marquis experts. Maintaining defensive stances in a triangular formation, they quietly approached the giant bear from three directions.

Fifty meters, twenty meters, ten meters...

When they closed to within ten meters, the giant bear still remained motionless.

Eight meters, five meters, three meters...

Whoosh!

Right at that moment, the giant bear moved again, violently twisting its body and swiping a palm toward the martial marquis on the right.

That martial marquis was startled. With a stomp of his foot and an explosion of bone strength, his figure retreated rapidly while the battle saber in his hand slashed downward with full force, hacking onto the giant bear's paw.

With a loud crash, this tier-five martial marquis expert was sent flying dozens of meters away, snapping a two-man-tall boulder in half and vomiting several mouthfuls of blood as his face turned pale.

Yet his cultivation was far superior to those previous martial marquises; although injured, he was not dead.

The giant bear struggled to its feet and lunged to slaughter the other two martial marquises.

Despite its bulky build, the giant bear fiend moved with astonishing speed. When its bear paws slammed down, afterimages even appeared.

The two martial marquises tried their utmost to dodge, but found it difficult to evade completely. Both were struck by the bear paws, sent flying dozens of meters, and heavily injured.

Roar!

The giant bear fiend let out a fierce roar and lunged at one of them.

"Are you all still not going to attack? This fiend has indeed suffered devastating injuries, and its combat power is less than ten percent of its peak. We are fully capable of killing it."

The attacked martial marquis roared, then sprinted toward a certain large tree.

Hidden within that tree was an expert.

"Damn it."

The expert in the tree had not wanted to act at all, harboring the intention of reaping the benefits as a third party, only for this person to charge straight at him.

He leaped into the air, springing toward a tree further back to widen the distance between himself and the giant bear.

Meanwhile, the first martial marquis to attack had already been caught up to by the giant bear, its massive bear paw descending like a shroud.

This person could only offer his utmost resistance.

However, all his attacks were futile in the face of absolute strength.

The massive bear paw ignored all defense and directly smashed downward. With a loud crash, this person was once more sent flying dozens of meters away, snapping a tree that required several men to embrace.

Coughing up mouthfuls of blood, his face like beaten gold, countless bones shattered throughout his body, he couldn't even stand up.

"Attack! Attack!"

This martial marquis let out a despairing roar, but no one responded at all.

Thud!

The giant bear strode forward and charged, crashing into the man and turning him into a pulp of flesh.

The other two previously-attacking martial marquises turned deathly pale. Not daring to attack anymore, they turned and fled, escaping into the forest.

With a ferocious expression and surging murderous intent, the giant bear fiend did not pursue those two martial marquises. Instead, it leaped, lunging toward a large tree.

Its huge, bulky body soared dozens of meters high, a paw swatting fiercely into the branches.

From the tree, a burly figure shot out, narrowly dodging the giant bear's attack.

Yet the giant bear had no intention of letting up. It lunged forward swiftly, its paws striking out in rapid succession with a speed so great it defied evasion.

A resolute look flashed across the burly figure's face. His fists turned crimson-red as he threw a punch to meet the attack.

Clang, clang!

With two massive booms, the burly figure retreated over ten meters, while the giant bear's assault was successfully blocked.

"This guy is strong."

In the distance, Lu Yan was also secretly startled.

He had never seen this person before, but the man possessed terrifying strength. He was definitely a congenital or acquired martial body, and his combat power surpassed even Zhao Yi's.

Compared to Gao Wanping, the gap was negligible; he was undoubtedly a figure on the Martial Marquis Ranking.

This man had ordinary features, but he sported a head of fiery red hair that left a deep impression.

"Everyone, do you still intend to sit back and reap the benefits at this point? Let's join forces to kill this fiend, and then compete for the fiend crystal based on our own abilities. How about it?"

The red-haired man shouted loudly.

Yet no one responded.

"Humph."

The red-haired man snorted coldly, leaping forward to charge toward a certain large tree.

As he charged, the giant bear fiend also lunged at him.

He let out a sharp cry, his crimson fists striking out continuously. Exchanging two blows with the giant bear fiend, he utilized the beast's force to vault across nearly a hundred meters and land on a large tree.

Roar!

The giant bear fiend rushed over, shattering the tree in two with a single swipe of its paw.

Two figures leaped down from the tree.

Unexpectedly, one of them was Ouyang Zeng, ranked thirty-first on the Martial Marquis Ranking.

The giant bear fiend picked up the broken tree trunk and swept it toward the two of them.

With gloomy expressions, Ouyang Zeng and the red-haired man dodged by leaping aside.

Crash, crash, crash...

The tree trunk swept horizontally, colliding with multiple other trees. Wood shattered and splinters flew everywhere, causing several more figures to leap down from those trees as well.

"Everyone, since we've already been exposed, we might as well join forces."

One of them said.

"Some people still refuse to act, wishing to reap the benefits of our labor," the red-haired man said coldly.

"Then force them out."

Ouyang Zeng's face was gloomy as his gaze swept across the surroundings.

"Then let's all attack together."

From a certain large tree, a figure leaped down. The moment he descended, he rapidly loosed three arrows. Three metal arrows hissed through the air, aimed respectively at the giant bear's head and chest.

This person was none other than Gao Wanping.

The giant bear fiend swung its massive paw to bat the three arrows away, while simultaneously leaping to pounce on the red-haired man.

"Attack!"

The red-haired man gave a low shout. Instead of retreating, he advanced, pushing his bone strength to the absolute limit and throwing a punch at the giant bear fiend.

Simultaneously, Ouyang Zeng and the others also struck together, pouncing on the giant bear fiend from various directions.

Knowing it would be difficult to reap unearned rewards now, the hidden spectators realized that if they didn't act, Gao Wanping, the red-haired man, Ouyang Zeng, and the others would force them into the fray.

Consequently, they leaped out one after another, deploying their various techniques to slaughter the giant bear fiend.

Lu Yan did not make a move.

Having followed from behind and keeping a considerable distance from the group, none of these people had noticed him.

Since they hadn't noticed him, why bother intervening?

When a dozen top-tier martial marquis experts attacked simultaneously, the momentum was terrifying. Even with its extraordinary speed, the giant bear fiend found it difficult to dodge every attack and was struck by several blows.

It managed to block two of them, but a spear pierced directly into the wound on its chest, eliciting a fierce roar of agony from the giant bear fiend.