Within the King's Canyon, slaying any of the Four Ferocious Beasts would grant a mysterious treasure. However, the exact nature of the treasure wasn't revealed in the messages transmitted to their minds—it remained shrouded in mist. To uncover the truth, the only method was to kill one of the beasts; only then would the prize be revealed.
"Enough talk. Let's just kill this Taotie first," Lü Bu said bluntly, his eyes blazing with intense battle intent.
"Don't anyone interfere—let me give it a shot first," Li Yuanba shouted, clearly unwilling to be sidelined.
Without waiting for approval or objection, he leapt forward from within the Concealing Veil, straight toward the beast.
Roar!!
The Taotie, currently drinking water, was naturally alert to its surroundings. Sensing movement, it turned its head—and when it saw Li Yuanba, its eyes flashed blood-red. This gaze was filled with pure savagery. It was clear that this version of the Taotie was corrupted by brutality—it wasn't a true offspring of the ancestral dragon, but its strength was unquestionable.
Its aura alone hinted that it had surpassed the limits of the Life Diagram Realm, making it truly terrifying.
"Hey, Taotie! Take a taste of Grandpa Li's hammer!"
Though Li Yuanba's body appeared thin and frail like a sickly ghost, his movements were swift and explosive. With a stomp of his left foot, he soared through the air, appearing right before the Taotie in an instant. He brought down his Urn Gold Hammer like a meteor, aiming squarely at the creature's head.
CLANG!!
The Taotie hadn't even fully registered where Li Yuanba had come from when the hammer struck it squarely. The blow landed directly on its dual horns, erupting in a shower of sparks. The impact caused the beast's massive head to dip.
Despite the stunning force, the Taotie's physical form was simply too strong. Even though the hammer blast was powerful enough to collapse a mountain, all it did was make the Taotie dizzy and dazed.
Roar!!
With bloodthirsty eyes, the Taotie roared and opened its giant maw wide—revealing a black void, exuding a terrifying devouring force that pulled at everything around it. The ground cracked, sand and stones flew, and a dark light enveloped Li Yuanba.
He tried to plant his feet, but the pull was so immense that he was dragged forward. His heels carved two deep trenches in the earth—a chilling sight.
"It's the legendary devouring force of Taotie! It can eat anything! Its body is like a bottomless pit—this pull is insane!"
The other human elites gasped. The giant maw stretched across the sky, ready to swallow all.
"Hah, you beast—you really do live up to your name! But eating me won't be that easy. Take this—[Seven Forms of Hatred] – Hatred for the River's Fury!"
With his eyes gleaming, Li Yuanba didn't show fear. On the contrary, he looked excited, overflowing with fighting spirit. His hammer shone with golden light, and from his body erupted a fierce martial intent—this was Hammer Intent, a manifestation of his will.
"Hatred", in this context, was not weakness—it was defiance. A challenge to the heavens. A cry from the soul. A roar from the people. The stronger the hatred, the more overwhelming the power.
As his hammer fell, even those standing far away could feel the overwhelming martial intent—a storm of emotion and power.
A vision appeared: a river in flood, with waves crashing through villages and cities, drowning farmlands, homes, and people. The cries of the helpless echoed as the floods consumed everything.
Hatred! Hatred! Hatred!
Hatred for the river's destruction. Hatred for nature's cruelty. Hatred so vast it could shake the heavens.
All of this emotion condensed into the hammer's blow—it was as if the flood itself was surging toward the Taotie, ready to destroy it.
The terrifying part wasn't the flood—but the endless hatred within it.
Taotie, seeing this, flinched. But with a furious roar, it intensified its devouring power and sucked the hammer strike into its maw like swallowing the tide.
"You can swallow it—but let's see if you can digest it," Li Yuanba laughed madly.
Roar!!
Enraged by his words, the Taotie pounced forward and swallowed Li Yuanba whole.
In an instant, his body vanished. He was... eaten.
"Li Yuanba… actually got eaten…"
"No way! That was the 'Hatred for the River's Fury' from the Seven Forms of Hatred! The martial intent behind that move was terrifying—possibly at the level of a Three Calamity Martial Truth! How could the Taotie just swallow that?"
"Now what? Li Yuanba's gone!"
The human elites were stunned. The Taotie's display of power was simply overwhelming.
Then, a voice softly spoke:
"Are you a sheep? You look a little like one… but not quite. And why the human face? That's no good. Being a sheep is nice. I'll give you some grass."
A figure in green robes stepped out from the Concealing Veil—Ah Qing. She tilted her head and looked at the Taotie with innocent curiosity. Then she lifted her green bamboo staff and gently knocked it on the Taotie's head.
"Is that… Ah Qing?"
"She knows it has sheep traits… but it's not really a sheep. Is she really trying to turn it into one?!"
"Just how strong is she? Can she really only turn things into sheep?"
Everyone was watching with rapt attention. This was a moment they'd long been curious about.
SWISH!!
The bamboo staff seemed light and slow, yet somehow, the Taotie couldn't evade it. It was as if the staff carried a mysterious force that sealed all possibilities of escape. The moment it moved, the Taotie was struck by a divine light—but instead of transforming into a sheep, a strange power on the beast repelled the spell.
"You're not being good," Ah Qing said with a slight shake of her head. "Since you won't be a sheep… then I'll send you on your way."
Casually, she waved the bamboo staff again.
At that moment, every human elite present saw something unimaginable—a sword light flashed before their eyes. It traced a trajectory through the void that defied comprehension.
There was no killing intent, no bloodlust—only an ordinary, almost casual, sword light. Yet it made their hearts run cold.
Roar!!
The Taotie sensed the danger and opened its mouth again, forming a giant black hole to devour the light.
But the sword light pierced straight through the void, entering the beast's mouth like a ray of light.
CRACK!!
A crisp sound rang out. The black hole collapsed.
Everyone saw the most chilling sight of all—the Taotie stood frozen, terrified.
From its mouth, the green bamboo staff had penetrated cleanly through the back of its head—a perfect, fatal strike.
Its skull had been pierced through.
"That bamboo staff... it's a sword! A terrifying sword! Her sword technique… I couldn't even see it. Did any of you see it?"
"Her sword… it's nearly the Dao itself. I couldn't even trace the sword light's path. Even a Four Ferocious Beast was slain in a single strike!"
The crowd fell silent, their hearts pounding. What they had just witnessed—Ah Qing's sword—was something that none of them would ever forget.