C24 Five Thousand Fiend Beasts

"Seriously? I was totally shooting in the dark!"

Hai Ming's voice rang out in astonishment, his expression one of sheer incredulity.

"Even a blind cat finds a dead rat now and then—you got it right."

Zhou Mu let out a sigh and decapitated the third duck.

The ducks seemed unusually plentiful among these fiend beasts.

"Stay alert and protect yourself. With so many fiend beasts, I might not be able to look out for you."

Zhou Mu's eyes swept over the area, taking in every skirmish.

The driver was holding off a leader fiend beast, while the headmaster, Fong Ju, was managing to hold back two.

Goldie was a force of destruction, tearing through the elite fiend beasts with such ferocity that many didn't even have a chance to react before their heads were crushed or their necks severed.

The two hundred-plus students were engaged in combat with the ordinary fiend beasts, gradually forming several cohesive teams amidst the fierce fighting.

It must be said, the students admitted to Bayshore School were truly top-notch in every way.

They fought with a calm, methodical approach.

Those who were injured or fatigued were shielded, with the more robust students forming a protective front line.

Though initially their movements were somewhat unpolished and clumsy, with time their teamwork became increasingly fluid and efficient.

Hundreds of fiend beasts fell, yet not a single student or spirit animal perished.

"Is he the top scorer of this exam? He's taking down third-rank fiend beasts without breaking a sweat."

A few students watched Zhou Mu in action and couldn't contain their awe.

"There's no such thing as a weakling among those who achieve a first-rate evaluation."

Panting heavily, a classmate added, "Whether it's their spirit animals or their martial skills, they're the cream of the crop."

"Where's his spirit animal? Why do we only see him fighting?"

"Have you not noticed? Among the fiend beasts attacking us, not one elite has shown up."

"..."

Facing an overwhelming number of over five thousand, the three hundred humans felt the crushing weight of the disparity.

Despite the driver and Fong Ju stalling three leaders, and Goldie keeping the elite at bay, the students began to suffer casualties.

"Ah!"

A scream pierced the air as a lupine fiend beast breached the defenses, ripping a sizeable gash in a student's torso.

Blood spurted and a body hit the ground—the first casualty had finally occurred.

The fiend beasts were dwindling in number, and the human defenses were teetering on the brink of collapse.

As time went on, and the few spirit animals skilled in defense perished, the true crisis emerged.

The sounds of flesh ripping, bones snapping, and agonizing screams filled the air...

The battlefield had become a meat grinder, claiming the lives of fiend beasts and humans alike with each passing moment.

"Ah!"

Zhou Mu sighed in resignation and, with a mere thought, unleashed his dragon's might.

It was grand and authoritative.

This was the presence of the king of fiend beasts, an invincible force among those of equal rank and class.

With the emergence of the dragon's might, the previously ferocious fiend beasts were now cowering on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

The lower-level ones were so terrified they lost control of their bodily functions, while the higher-level ones cautiously wagged their tails.

"What the..."

The students stared in astonishment at the drastic shift in the fiend beasts' behavior.

"It's Zhou Mu! Zhou Mu has made his move!"

Someone shouted, and the memory of Zhou Mu's battle with Wu Yuexia flashed through their minds, bringing clarity to the rest.

"Kill!"

"Exterminate these cursed fiend beasts!"

Fueled by rage, the roars echoed, and even the most fatigued students mustered the strength to stand.

One side was spent, the other unmoved.

Zhou Mu's intervention had turned the tide of a battle that was nearly a mutual annihilation. The scales of victory now tipped in favor of humanity.

Looking around, only the three leader fiend beasts remained standing, locked in combat with Fong Ju and the driver.

The dragon's might was overwhelming, radiating in all directions.

Unlike their ordinary and elite counterparts, the three leader fiend beasts did not tremble on the ground, but their combat strength was still reduced by at least fifty percent.

Under the relentless assault from Fong Ju and the driver, they soon sustained grave injuries and were beaten to death.

"We owe you big time for this one!"

Fong Ju wiped the blood from his face as his racing heart gradually steadied.

Leader against leader, such battles are rarely resolved quickly unless there's an advantage of bloodline or race. But his fight with the leader fiend beast was an entirely different scenario.

An Animal Whisperer, an ordinary spirit animal, and an elite spirit animal joined forces to confront the leader of the fiend beasts. Their struggle was akin to a dance on a knife's edge, with every moment teetering on the precipice of death.

Moreover, the area teemed with numerous elites. Had it not been for Zhou Mu, they might have truly met their demise.

"Should you ever need my aid in the future, I will face death without flinching."

A handful of students approached, expressing their gratitude.

Zhou Mu, through his own formidable power, had managed to hold off all the elite fiend beasts and quell the threat of the remaining ordinary and leader fiend beasts at the critical juncture. His fearsome strength left everyone in profound awe.

"We're all classmates here; there's no need for such formality."

Zhou Mu nodded, his gaze piercing the darkness ahead.

His instincts warned him that the crisis was far from over.

The true enemy was about to reveal itself.

Sure enough, with a chilling and maniacal laugh, a pair of blood-red eyes emerged from the shadows.

Following close behind was a ghastly head emblazoned with the word "Darkness," attached to a muscular and formidable frame.

This was a tiger-type fiend beast, a standout among its peers.

"Blood Eye Demon Tiger, you're with the Brightsmiths!"

The driver exclaimed, his face etched with disbelief.

"Quite perceptive. I occupy the Seventy-Two Black Hand seat, known as Sinister Six."

The eerie voice resonated once more, this time from the Blood Eye Demon Tiger itself.

"Are you man or beast?"

Zhou Mu demanded, his brow furrowed in consternation.

The spirit animal before him exuded an aura of savagery, ruthlessness, madness, and chaos. It seemed undeniably a fiend beast.

Yet, instead of launching an immediate attack, it conversed in human tongue, referring to itself as Sinister Six.

"Does it matter whether one is human or beast? In this dog-eat-dog world, both are merely fighting for survival."

Sinister Six's laugh was laced with malice, as though he sought to impart a twisted lesson to Zhou Mu.

"This creature is a member of the Brightsmiths, who practice modes to transplant their souls into fiend beasts, thereby usurping their power."

Fong Ju advanced two steps, subtly positioning himself in front of Zhou Mu as a shield.

"The Brightsmiths are a malevolent organization that stands against humanity, comprised of four factions: the Brightspeakers, the Vision of the Ended, the Poisongarde, and the Black Hand. The Brightspeakers and the Vision of the Ended are enigmatic, always lurking in the shadows, while the Poisongarde and the Black Hand wreak havoc far and wide."

"The influence of the Brightsmiths extends globally. At present, we're aware that the might of the 36 Pleuft stars is uniformly at a kingly level, whereas the 72 Black Hand stars are somewhat inferior, with their strongest reaching only the stature of a lord."

"They're essentially a bunch of maniacs intent on annihilating the world!"

Zhou Mu nodded, his tone dripping with irony. "Here I was, expecting some high-and-mighty big shot, only to find a mere underling. You're like someone trying to cross a river on a gourd, pretending to be something grand!"