Otherworldly Evil Monarch

"It's… such… a cold winter…" Big Bear stammered; he had begun to choke and sweat. He had been laughing at other people's misery a moment ago. But, a whole lot of abuses had suddenly rained on his head now. This had left him flabbergasted. And, a strange expression had emerged on his face as a result.     

"Cold…?" Mei Xueyan raised her leg, and let a kick loose at Big Bear. This made him roll away on the ground, "You go into 'torpor' as soon as the winter arrives! Isn't that's how you've been managing things your entire life? So, what 'cold' nonsense are you talking about? Moreover, you're the Bear King! Are you going to wear a coat made of bear skin? You're very talented! You're exactly like that dim-witted Jun Moxie… you have no shame either!"     

Jun Moxie's smile turned into an expression of sorrow when he heard this. [How did this land on me? Don't you know that I'm not foolish? I've only been pretending to be foolish this entire time. So, why would you mock me like that?]     

Bear King and Earth Cracker were scowling in misery, and weren't able to say anything.     

"So, our Old Bear hasn't gone into torpor this year? He's leaping and frisking-about instead?" Jun Moxie had seen that the two individuals were in a wretched and embarrassed state. Therefore, he decided to change the topic with the intention of smoothing things over.     

"Why have you come here? He's the Bear King. How does it matter to you if he wants to torpor or not? And, I'm not done talking to you either. Tell me, why did you give so much money to these two fools?"     

Mei Xueyan looked at him, and waited for him to speak. However, she then noticed that he had a smile of contentment on his face. She couldn't help but ask, "What are you smiling at?" However, Mei Xueyan had sensed that Young Master Jun had already procured more pills. In fact, her expectations were faintly evident in her voice.     

Jun Moxie stepped forward with a 'whoosh'. Then, he smiled and said, "Fortunately, I don't feel insulted. Oh, Xueyan! You can start counting the number of people on your side. There shouldn't be any problem as long as the number of people isn't unusually large!"     

Mei Xueyan shot up her eyebrows. [He dared to call out my name?] However, she quickly came back to herself. [Are the pills ready?] She suddenly forgot to settle these matters with him. Instead, her fingers began to dance in counting without any music.     

Bear King and Earth Cracker gazed in Jun Moxie's direction, and secretly gave him a thumbs up. [Wow! That's an amazing speed of progress! He's worthy of being hailed as Big Sister's husband! He called her by her first name! And, he even took control over her anger so quickly!]     

Both the Beast Kings were gazing at Jun Moxie with an expression of admiration in their eyes…     

[He's an awesome man!]     

"Ten… Ten are enough!" Mei Xueyan had closed her eyes while counting. She then sighed, and exclaimed.     

"Ten? Are you sure?" Jun Moxie was surprised by this. He had thought that Mei Xueyan would include all the Mystic Beasts who had reached close to the Ninth Level's peak. Therefore, it was shocking for him since Mei Xueyan had only asked for ten pills.     

"Without a doubt," Mei Xueyan took a deep breath. "Ten pills are enough. One doesn't have to be greedy. Those level nine Mystic Beasts are only one step away from transformation stage. But, how can we allow them to achieve it without any efforts? Moreover, upgrading the strengths of only the Beast Kings would be more beneficial for the Heavenly Punishment Forest's management. As far as the rest are concerned… I'll go back, choose among them, and train them carefully later on. After all, I'll have a major headache in case some of them turn out to be extremely wild and untamable."     

Jun Moxie clapped his hands in appreciation, "That's right! That's good! This is the proper way to handle this situation. After all, the soldiers can be effectively governed in this manner. The Beast Kings would have absolute authority over other Mystic Beasts if we follow this. And, we can then consider the follow-up development plan without any constraints. Mei Xueyan, you are extremely thoughtful!"     

Then, he took out the fruit of his labor. He took out a jade bottle from his chest pocket, and placed it on the table; the bottle instantly attracted everyone's gaze like a magnet.     

"There are five pills in this bottle. I've given you four in the past. And, you've already taken one. So, that's an exact ten!" Jun Moxie exclaimed in a heavy voice, "I recommend that Tiger King, Bear King, and Snake King not return to the Heavenly Punishment Forest for the time being. Instead, they must take the pill here, and advance their levels without delay. The sooner—the better! What do you think about it?"     

"Green Hunter has already taken one. But, these two guys are extremely short-tempered. Moreover, this matter needs to be handled wisely. Their strength would increase by a solid margin. But, what would I do if they go around abusing their powers after they return to Heavenly Punishment? Wouldn't that… make things difficult for me?" Mei Xueyan looked extremely worried as she cast solemn glances on Big Bear and Earth Cracker.     

The Bear King and Tiger King had heard the news that one's abilities could be enhanced by merely consuming these mysterious pills. And, they had suddenly become extremely overjoyed to have come here for this delivery assignment. [This is exactly what I had expected when I had come here… ha ha…] Therefore, they couldn't contain their happiness. But, their faces flattened like a sheet of paper as soon as they heard Mei Xueyan's words…     

It could be said that Mei Xueyan understood them very well. Both of them had been thinking of this a moment ago—[We'll enhance our strengths, and go back. Then, we'll show-off our abilities in front of that Old Crane! And, we'll let everyone know how powerful we've become…] But, how could they have anticipated that Mei Xueyan would reject the idea even before their beautiful dream had come to reality…     

"Bear King and Tiger King are extremely simple-minded. But, they're understanding individuals nonetheless. So, how can they do something like that? It must be said that they had created a killing ring at Heavenly Scent's gates the other day. But, the stupid prince was unlucky to not have opened his eyes to see everything clearly. It's essential for them to take these pills. They've walked the entire way from Southern Heaven to Heavenly Scent as far as I know. It must be admitted that they've killed many people on the way, but they never provoked anyone on their own accord. They had acted-up only when they were provoked by the other party."     

Jun Moxie spoke sternly with an air of righteousness, "That's why I don't think these two can do something like that…!"     

The two Beast Kings were very moved by this. In fact, they even looked at Jun Moxie with eyes full of fervent tears. They thought—[He's a genuinely amazing Brother-in-law. He should be our brother-in-law forever! We wouldn't let Big Sister change her husband even if she wants to!]     

"They would grab and beat up Long Crane if worse comes to worst. They might even take the command from him for a short while. But, they won't do much more than that," Jun Moxie continued.     

The two Beast Kings felt like fainting… [Do we look like the kind of people who'd try to take the command by force?]     

"Don't tell me that you… haven't thought about 'it' already? They have to return to Heavenly Punishment. But, their return trip won't be as smooth as their journey to this place," Jun Moxie took the lead, and spoke-up with a dignified expression, "Enhancement of strength should be done without delay! You might think that the journey back to Heavenly Punishment might be easy. But, don't forget that they might have to face some opposition from the Three Holy Lands! Their current strength barely gives them a hope of being able to defend themselves in a one-on-one situation. But, there's no point in even mentioning an ambush situation! It's not a cakewalk to survive in this situation! Their existing cultivation would probably suffer great harm even if they were lucky enough to return to Heavenly Punishment. Do you want them to be like the Sixth Lion and the Seventh Monkey?"     

Mei Xueyan irresolutely muttered with a heavy look on her face, "What's the probability that they would intercept these two?"     

Jun Moxie said with a bitter smile, "It's not that you don't realize this yourself. You just don't wish to believe it. There's at least an 80% chance that they will attempt to intercept these two! But, would you like to gamble with their lives even if there's only half-a-chance?"     

Mei Xueyan was rendered speechless for a while. Then, her graceful eyes emitted bursts of anger as she spoke-up in an objective manner, "Your words make sense! I hadn't thought of it in this manner. But, I now think that it's better to let these two upgrade their strengths before embarking on their return trip to Heavenly Punishment."     

Jun Moxie nodded his head, "This should be handled in this manner!"     

Big Bear and Earth Cracker were extremely overjoyed. [I never expected that Big Sister would go as far as accepting that she was inconsiderate! Oh… our brother-in–law is brilliant! He made her re-think her decision with just a few words! Wow! When has Big Sister ever changed her mind in Heavenly Punishment?!]     

[Our brother-in-law has such a high position! Oh dear, Big Sister's husband… we like you so much!]     

The two Beast Kings had nearly shouted out that last sentence. They had somehow managed to hold it back, but it hadn't been easy for them.     

However, these two battle-minded Beast Kings hadn't paid much attention to this talk of 'ambush on the trip to Heavenly Punishment'. After all, the two Beast Kings had been fighting battles throughout their lives. Therefore, fighting was ingrained in their nature! [What's so special about the people from these Three Holy Lands! We're not even aware of how many battles we've fought and how many life-and-death situations we've dealt with! Aren't we capable of killing anyone laying in ambush there-and-then?] This was particularly true for the Bear King. After all, he had made a breakthrough very recently. Therefore, he wanted to test how far his strength had progressed…     

[Killing us off? Ha-ha! That is an enormous joke!]     

[Let them try and kill us! We'll see who kills who!]     

[The cultivations of Sixth Lion and Seventh Monkey had only reached the early stages of Beast Kings back then; they were far from the peak of a Beast King's strength at that time. However, they had been attacked by four Great Masters. It was very unfortunate. And, that's why they had suffered that miserable defeat. But, we've been at the peak of a Beast King's strength for some time now. So, we'll be far more prepared than them if we make another breakthrough! We'll see an astonishing growth in our strengths! We might even go-around looking for these Great Masters if they don't come to ambush us half-way!]     

The Snake King had already taken one pill. Therefore, Mei Xueyan was only left with three more pills.     

She was about to give the two Beast Kings their doses when she heard Jun Moxie speak up, "Wait! Don't rush!"     

Everyone was astonished as they heard him. So, they looked at him in a strange manner. But, he soon took out another jade bottle from his pocket. He then said with a mischievous smile on his face, "These are Heavenly Vitality Pills. There's a total of ten here. Each of these pills can provide 50 years-worth of strength upgrade. But, one person can only take one pill. I think you should take this first and increase your skills. So, you should take the Vitality Linkage Pill to enhance your speed once you've done this first. I guess that this would lead to better results!"     

Mei Xueyan exclaimed, and her body began to tremble.     

[One pill has the ability to enhance strength by fifty years!]     

[These two kinds of pills are so precious that their value can't even be assessed. But, Jun Moxie has taken these pills out without any hesitation!]     

[Jun Moxie had been missing for the last few days. He must've been trying hard to procure these pills for the sake of my safety! He's been worried about me!]     

Mei Xueyan suddenly felt that she was being loved and taken care of in that split second. And, a surge of happiness took her over! This feeling was new for her. She had never felt this way in her entire life! Moreover, her Mystic strength had already reached the pinnacle of the world. So, who could've even gotten a chance to make her feel like this?     

However, these feelings had suddenly emerged in her heart at this time. And, she had been left to feel enchanted and content as a result. But, this warm and tumultuous feeling of happiness was also accompanied by a faint yet bitter sensation. It seemed as if she was too reluctant to part with this feeling…