Martial Peak

Chapter 5612: Wild Ambition

As the Shadow Leopard swallowed several Monster Cores of Monster Kings who were just as powerful as it was, its aura reached its peak.

The invisible shackles broke apart as the Shadow Leopard achieved a breakthrough. While it roared painfully and wildly, its aura transformed into something new.

Claps of thunder were still heard. While the Heavenly Tribulation was harming the Shadow Leopard, it was also purifying its power.

There came a moment when, with the Shadow Leopard as the centre, a round of visible shockwaves spread out in all directions. An extremely powerful aura exuded from the Shadow Leopard.

“It succeeded!” Qin Xue, who had been paying close attention to the Shadow Leopard, cried tears of joy, oblivious to the fact that she had dug her fingers into her palms from all her worrying.

She initially thought that the Shadow Leopard was doomed, so it surprised her when the latter overcame a seemingly impossible crisis and even achieved greater heights.

“Incredible,” Hou Qing Hai was standing beside her and was astounded by the Shadow Leopard’s determination. If he were in the Shadow Leopard’s situation, he reckoned that he wouldn’t have survived.

As he felt the Shadow Leopard’s aura, he remarked, “It’s now a Third-Order Monster Emperor.”

After a Monster King achieved a breakthrough, it would become a Monster Emperor and the Orders were categorised based on the Humans’ Open Heaven Realm method. As such, the Orders corresponded to those of the Humans.

In other words, the Shadow Leopard, who was now a Third-Order Monster Emperor, was equivalent to a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Human Master.

This kind of cultivation was low compared to Human standards, and if the Shadow Leopard had achieved an ascension through the Open Heaven Realm method, its limit would be the Fifth Order.

On the various Great Territory Battlefields, there were innumerable Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.

However, the Shadow Leopard had achieved a breakthrough using the Primal Art, so its potential was limitless. As long as it continuously tempered its Monster Core and absorbed enough power, it would reach the Ninth Order one day.

Certainly, it would take the beast a long time to achieve that; after all, the strongest Monster Emperors from the Myriad Monsters World were currently only in the Fifth Order.

In the dense forest, many Monster Kings were initially making their way over from all directions, but following the deaths of the White Hair Ape King, Iron Wing Eagle King, and Rock Snake King, these Monster Kings quickly hid themselves and retreated.

They had wanted to hold the Humans responsible using today’s incident and invade several Human Sects to feast on them. They were determined to nullify the agreement and chase the Humans out of the Myriad Monsters World. However, the Monster Kings who were the masterminds behind this plot were dead, so what was the point of the others staying there?

“Not enough! It’s still not enough!” The Shadow Leopard growled.

Finally, Qin Xue realised that something was off. Supposedly, since the Shadow Leopard had successfully achieved a breakthrough, its aura would stabilise soon. Instead, the Shadow Leopard’s aura, which showed that it was a Third-Order Monster Emperor, was still rising.

As a bolt of lightning struck, the Shadow Leopard disappeared once again.

Soon, a shriek was heard from the distance as a Monster King questioned furiously, “Why!?”

Following the Monster King’s demise, the dark clouds, which were initially fading, returned. The Heavenly Tribulation seemed to be brewing again in those dark clouds.

Another roar was heard moments later.

The originally quiet forest became clamorous as though a handful of salt had been thrown into a frying pan full of hot oil. These Monster Kings seemed to have detected danger, so they stopped hiding and madly surged their powers to retreat to their territories as quickly as possible.

A Monster King growled, “Leopard King, since you’ve become a Monster Emperor, why do you still want to kill us ruthlessly!?”

The Shadow Leopard didn’t answer the question as it focused on killing and devouring.

Qin Xue’s face turned pale again as she looked up at the increasingly thick dark clouds and the flashes of lightning, “What is it trying to do?”

The Heavenly Tribulation was supposedly over, and the Shadow Leopard had become the Leopard Emperor; however, it was still hunting those Monster Kings down. It didn’t seem to have the intention of letting them off.

Although the Shadow Leopard had just achieved an ascension, the difference in power between a Monster Emperor and a Monster King was unimaginably huge, not to mention that the Leopard Emperor was still withstanding the bolts of lightning. As the Heavenly Tribulation struck randomly and with enough strength to harm the Leopard Emperor, these Monster Kings were unable to bear the fallout.

The auras of these powerful Monster Kings subsequently disappeared, and in the blink of an eye, four or five Monster Kings had been killed. The Shadow Leopard was dextrous to begin with, and now that it had become a Monster Emperor, it could move even faster. From a bird’s eye view, one could see a leopard moving across the land like a flash of lightning.

The Shadow Leopard was badly injured, but it had never felt more alive than it did today. It knew that it had made the right decision.

The Third-Order Monster Emperor Realm wasn’t the end of its ascension this time.

Hou Qing Hai was dumbfounded, but he soon recalled something, “Great Emperor!”

“What?” Qin Xue was startled for a moment before coming to her senses, “Husband, you mean it is trying to become a Great Emperor of the Myriad Monsters World?”

“That’s the only possibility,” Hou Qing Hai nodded with certainty, “Did you tell it about the Great Emperors?”

Qin Xue nodded, “It did ask me about it once. In fact, most Monster Kings are aware of the existence of Great Emperors. When they became Monster Emperors, they certainly hoped to become Great Emperors as well; however, none of them have received the acknowledgement of the World’s Will over the years. As such, there has never been a Great Emperor in the Myriad Monsters World.”

Hou Qing Hai sighed, “It seems that the Leopard Emperor has found a way to become a Great Emperor.”

Perhaps the leopard didn’t look for the way as it merely conformed to the Heavenly Way of this World. There was no order to speak of among the Monster Race. Compared to Humans, Monster Race members lived in a constant state of battle. Furthermore, the Myriad Monsters World’s environment was primitive. Regardless of what the Shadow Leopard had done, it had undoubtedly garnered the attention of the World’s Grand Dao.

If it succeeded, it would most likely become a Great Emperor; however, if it failed, it would be doomed.

It was a huge gamble.

The dark clouds showed signs of dissipating after the Shadow Leopard first became a Monster Emperor, but as its aura continued to rise and it relentlessly killed and devoured other Monster Kings, the dark clouds reconstituted and grew in scale.

Flashes of lightning struck down at the Shadow Leopard like whips, both wounding it while also purifying its aura all at once.

The Shadow Leopard, which was originally a Third-Order Monster Emperor, was about to break through to the Fourth-Order.

As such, it became increasingly easy for it to kill other Monster Kings.

A Monster King that looked like a fox had returned to its territory and withdrawn its aura. While hiding in its den, it shuddered. However, the next moment, the earth was lifted off as a figure with lightning whirling around it appeared above the fox’s head. Its eyes were like two blood Moons as it glared at the fox.

“M-Monster!” The fox spoke in Human language with anxiety. Its voice was soft and demure, so one could imagine that if the fox assumed Human Form, it would be a seductive woman. Its mind had turned blank at the most critical moment, so it could only muster such a response.

“Damn you, Leopard Emperor! You demon!” The Shadow Leopard yanked the fox out of the den and opened its bloody maw to devour its prey.

“Leopard Emperor, stop!” A growl that sounded like it came from a hefty beast was heard at that moment. In the distance, a gigantic figure rushed over and landed in front of the Shadow Leopard. It was a Monster with an ox head and a Human body. The two horns on its head made it look intimidating, and scorching breath was seen puffing out from its nostrils. Given its power, it was already able to assume a full Human Form; nevertheless, it seemed too lazy to do so and only took a half-human form to move around more easily.

“Save me, Sir!” The fox exclaimed.

“You’re finally here!” The Shadow Leopard directly stuffed the fox into its mouth and chewed it as blood spilled through its teeth. There was no doubt the beast was cruel and merciless, its eyes appearing nonchalant, as though it had just killed an ordinary Monster Beast instead of a powerful Monster King. Bolts of lightning continued to hit the Shadow Leopard which made it quiver.

The Ox Head Monster Emperor was both shocked and furious as he roared, “You dare!”

The fox was the ox’s favourite concubine as it knew many tricks to infuse some fun into its boring life. The ox was shocked to see the fox being killed right before its eyes.

The Shadow Leopard’s voice sounded like a sneer, “So what if I’ve killed her? Do you want to avenge its death?”

The breath emitted from the Ox Head Monster Emperor’s nostrils seemed to have materialised, which showed how incensed it was. Nevertheless, it forced itself to calm down and nodded, “Leopard Emperor, since you’re also a Monster Emperor now, you should comply with the rules in this World and mustn’t kill Monster Kings as you please.”

No one had set such rules, but a tacit agreement had been passed down over the generations.

The Ox Head Monster Emperor initially thought that since it had personally shown up to deal with the matter, the Shadow Leopard would give it some face, but much to its surprise, the Shadow Leopard didn’t show any regard for it at all. If the Shadow Leopard were any other Monster Emperor, the Ox Head Monster Emperor wouldn’t have let it off so easily. Monster Race members loved fighting, after all, and it had been a Monster Emperor in the Myriad Monsters World for 300 years, so it wasn’t afraid of anyone.

However, the Leopard Emperor’s aura showed that it was about to reach the Fourth Order, and Heavenly lightning continued to strike it. As such, the Ox Head Monster Emperor wasn’t willing to get into a conflict with it.

It hoped that the Shadow Leopard would be killed by the lightning.

“Why don’t you finish your Heavenly Tribulation first? We can talk after that.”

“Cut the crap! Do you think this Emperor doesn’t know that you’re the one behind all this? That slut must have instigated you to do this as well! I was going to look for you anyway, but since you’re here already, it’s saved me some trouble!”

“You wanted to look for me?” The Ox Head Monster Emperor widened its eyes and looked at the Shadow Leopard in disbelief.

The Shadow Leopard laughed cruelly, “Give me your Monster Core and I’ll spare your life.”

The moment it finished speaking, it turned into a flash of light and charged towards the Ox Head Monster Emperor.

The Heavenly Tribulation still hadn’t ceased, and the Shadow Leopard wasn’t so foolish as to think that the other party would agree to its demand, so it struck first.

The Ox Head Monster Emperor was flabbergasted, for it never expected the crazy leopard to take action without even trying to negotiate. It now regretted coming here.

As Monster Qi surged, both Monster Emperors engaged in battle, elevating the conflict beyond a mere brawl between Monster Kings. Monster Emperors were already the most powerful beings in the Myriad Monsters World, so a life-and-death fight between the two could cause unimaginable damage.

Mountains collapsed and rivers flowed in reverse. The Heavenly Tribulation intensified amidst the thunderstorm as claps of thunder seemed to be cheering on this battle.