But before the crowd could finish cheering, an immensely powerful gale suddenly swept across the sky above them. Had it not been for the dense primeval forest surrounding them, and had this been an open place like a plain, they would all have been blown clean away. Even so, they could barely keep their footing, clutching at one another just to stay upright, each step a struggle.

"Th-that is one huge Jumang!" Ying Ziyu cried, staring up at the enormous figure in the sky. The others looked up at the sound of his voice, and every one of them was left gaping.

Hovering there in midair were two figures, one large and one small. The small one was none other than the third Jumang that had vanished for so long. In truth, by any measure it could hardly be called small—after all, standing upright it was a good three meters tall—yet beside the Jumang next to it, it was a veritable dwarf.

In both wingspan and body length, this giant Jumang was at least five times its size. Wei Zhao had seen many ferocious birds and spirit beasts of such proportions back on Cloud Terrace Island, but few possessed such savage, oppressive force.

Of course, this was also because Wei Zhao's current strength was too low. Had his true self been here, there would have been no sense of oppression at all. No matter how much larger the creature grew—even ten times over—it would be nothing more than a toy to him.

"Everyone, be careful. This thing is at least at the Golden Core stage—be prepared," Wei Zhao said grimly. Until the creature actually made its move, he had no way of judging its exact strength, but Golden Core it certainly was, and likely not merely early Golden Core or even its peak. If this were mishandled, it would be a lethal threat to them all.

The giant Jumang did not strike at once. Instead, it looked down upon them from its height with those utterly bestial eyes, then suddenly spoke: "Humans, surrender or die."

Qiu Lingshan and the others started at the words and exchanged bewildered glances. This thing could actually speak human language?

The three Jumang from before had made highly human-like gestures as they communicated, but their gibbering had clearly not been human speech. Yet this great creature could actually speak, and its enunciation was crisp and clear—impeccably standard.

Wei Zhao, however, was not surprised. Once spirit beasts reached a certain level, they could even take human form; speaking human language was a trifling matter. Besides, this creature was born with a human face, so it was hardly strange that it should have a vocal apparatus similar to a human's. So long as it wished to learn, mastering human speech would be easy enough.

"What manner of thing are you?" Wei Zhao asked calmly in return, sizing it up all the while.

"I am the Ancient Jumang King!" the giant Jumang replied.

"Bullshit!" Wei Zhao snorted, puncturing the claim without the slightest courtesy. "A human face and a bird's body may be Jumang's chief trait, but every Jumang recorded in the ancient texts stands upon two red serpents. And if you truly were a Jumang King left over from the ancient era, how could you have only this much strength? If you haven't even reached the Mountain-Opening stage, have you no shame showing yourself before others? Do you really think I've never read a book?"

"I... I..." The Ancient Jumang King was actually rendered speechless by this tirade. A distinct flush of embarrassment spread across that enormous human face, giving the impression of a swindler exposed on the spot—awkward beyond words.

Qiu Lingshan and the rest all turned eyes of admiration upon Wei Zhao. Having suddenly encountered such a menacing giant, they had been scared half to death, yet Wei Zhao had silenced the creature with a mere couple of sentences—a veritable Zhuge Wuhou reborn!

"This place is sealed and the spiritual energy is scarce. The strength of my Jumang clan dwindles with each generation—what is so strange about being inferior to the ancient era!" The Ancient Jumang King took a long moment to recover, then raged: "Mere humans dare to spout such arrogance and humiliate your king? I shall leave you with no place even to be buried!"

Seeing the creature on the verge of an outburst, Wei Zhao remained utterly unflustered. He curled his lip indifferently. "I merely spoke the truth—where is the humiliation? If your own strength falls short of your forebears, am I not even allowed to question it?"

Everyone assumed that talk had reached the point where a fight was inevitable. After all, they had witnessed the Jumang's savagery with their own eyes—even the three small ones ate people on sight, let alone this great thing before them, at least at the Golden Core stage.

Yet the Ancient Jumang King did not strike. Instead, it proved unexpectedly open to negotiation. "Very well. In consideration of the reverence you bear my Jumang clan, I shall spare your lives—provided you surrender meekly and offer no resistance."

Qiu Lingshan and the others were speechless. Which of Wei Zhao's words just now had expressed any reverence for the Jumang clan? Had they misheard, or was this so-called Ancient Jumang King reading too much into things?

"Surrender meekly? Offer no resistance? Then aren't we still doomed? Your Jumang kind treat us humans as food—we saw it with our own eyes just now. Do you really take us for fools?" Wei Zhao said with a half-smile.

"Did they truly eat them?" the Ancient Jumang King asked in return.

"Would I lie about that?" Wei Zhao curled his lip.

"Insolent wretches! What audacity, to dare steal and eat the tribute!" The Ancient Jumang King flew into a rage. Whirling around, it seized the Jumang beside it in one claw and, ignoring the creature's frantic gibbering pleas, squeezed with scarcely any effort, crushing it into a heap of mangled flesh that pattered down from the sky.

The crowd felt a chill rise over their heads at the sight, and they exchanged looks. This thing was far too savage—it killed even its own kind without a moment's hesitation. That overwhelming strength truly set their hearts pounding.

"There. Now you may believe in my sincerity, yes? So long as you surrender meekly, I guarantee not a single hair on your heads will be harmed!" The Ancient Jumang King turned back around, its face all benevolence.

Only a fool would believe such nonsense! Everyone inwardly scoffed. Then Wei Zhao smiled faintly and said, "If you want us to surrender meekly, you should at least first tell us what treatment we can expect afterward. If we end up as your rations the moment you turn around, won't we have died for nothing?"

"I swear in the name of the Ancient Jumang King that after you surrender there will be no danger whatsoever. You will merely have your freedom of movement restricted to some degree, unable to wander about at will—that is all. Compared with losing your lives here and now, surely such a small price is worth paying?" the Ancient Jumang King said, patiently leading them along.

Wei Zhao smiled at this, then suddenly asked, "What is this 'tribute' you mentioned?"

"Tribute..." The Ancient Jumang King's expression shifted, and only then did it realize it had let something slip. Its mind raced, and it hurried to patch things over: "I am the Ancient Jumang King, and since you are my captives, naturally you are tribute. Apart from me, no one may lay a finger on you without permission. What problem could there be with that?" (To be continued.)