Chapter Ninety: Fifth-Tier Desert Giant

“Oh?” Lu Sheng became interested. “Then how am I supposed to know you are not lying to me?”

Zhou Zhen gave a wry smile. “I would not dare. This is only a rumor that has not spread yet. Before long, everyone nearby will know about it. I merely thought I should tell you in advance, sir.”

Lu Sheng signaled for his underlings to withdraw their aura. “Fine. Tell me what you know. If it satisfies me, I will let you leave.”

“It is like this: in the Returnflow Desert, near the central stretch, deep within this rocky layer, a desert giant has appeared. Several groups are already fighting over it, all of them led by fifth-tier experts. I could not join the fray, so I came back.”

Zhou Zhen gave the news in a succinct burst, hoping Lu Sheng would let him off.

Seeing that the man did not seem to be lying, Lu Sheng decided to trust him for the moment.

“Make that one slap himself ten times. I want to hear every blow. The rest need not do it.”

Zhou Zhen followed Lu Sheng’s gesture and looked toward the man who had spoken the rudest moments before.

“Yes, sir.”

Zhou Zhen stepped up to Song Ping and barked, “What are you standing there for? Do you want to die?”

Awakened by the shout, Song Ping snapped out of his daze and immediately began slapping his own face with all his strength, not daring to hold back in the slightest.

Soon the sharp, steady sound of blows filled the air.

The rhythm was crisp and satisfying to the ear.

The struck skin gradually turned red, and a thread of blood began to seep from the split skin.

By the time the tenth slap landed, blood was already spilling from the corner of his mouth.

“You are fairly sensible after all. Go.”

He ordered the goblins and frogmen to clear the way, and Zhou Zhen hurriedly bent his back in gratitude. “Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!”

“What are you waiting for? Move!”

Zhou Zhen led his people away in disgrace.

Teaching a bunch of foul-mouthed fools a lesson had brought an unexpected windfall, something Lu Sheng had not anticipated.

Since he had already learned of the desert giant, he decided to hurry over and have a look.

From the man’s words, several groups were already fighting over it, and each of them had fifth-tier fighters.

Although he had plenty of fifth-tier monsters on hand, their quality was a weakness. Lu Sheng still needed to be cautious.

If he wanted to swallow all of them by himself, that might be a bit difficult.

But why had he automatically assumed at the start that he would kill every rival in sight?

That was far too violent. He must have been influenced by those goblins just now.

It was all the goblins’ fault. A “gentle” person like him would never entertain such dangerous thoughts.

Thinking this, Lu Sheng shot the goblin a glare.

Goblin: ???

What the heck?

Why is Master glaring at me?

...

He put away the monster cards and took out the White Cloud Horse. Since he was traveling, he ought to use a monster specialized for travel.

Even with the terrain rising and falling in jagged, treacherous layers, the fifth-tier White Cloud Horse was not the least bit troubled.

It leaped and bounded forward, moving as though the perilous ground were level earth.

Seated atop the horse, Lu Sheng watched the scenery race backward in a blur, yet felt no bumping or jolting at all.

Riding the White Cloud Horse, Lu Sheng quickly threaded through layer upon layer of rock. After crossing the rocky zone, he saw ahead in the desert that three groups of men were besieging a desert giant.

The desert giant stood about fifteen meters tall, its body formed entirely of sand grains that seemed to be in constant motion.

Even under a hail of attacks, it merely kept swinging its fists, sweeping everything away with ease.

This desert giant was also a fifth-tier monster, and its combat strength was clearly nothing to scoff at.

Now Lu Sheng was somewhat torn. Should he join the siege himself?

If the final spoils of the Returnflow Desert were dropped, who would they belong to?

Another struggle over loot was inevitable, and for a moment he hesitated.

So Lu Sheng decided to observe first. From the current situation, it was impossible for these people to bring the desert giant down in a short time.

There were three groups in total: two groups of six, and one group of three. Each group had only one fifth-tier expert.

By that calculation, even if all of them turned on him together, he still had a chance of winning.

For now, he would simply wait for the right moment and let them wear the giant down first.

He carefully observed the battle among the three fifth-tier experts.

One of them possessed tremendous strength and wielded a weapon like a door slab of a blade, strong enough to meet the desert giant head-on.

Another seemed to have excellent stamina, using a spear. The other two fifth-tier experts were already breathing slightly hard, but he was not.

The third was extremely fast, armed with an ordinary long blade. It was obvious his speed far exceeded the other two.

These were Lu Sheng’s primary targets for observation. He also glanced at the others who were not fifth-tier.

They were all providing support from the sidelines. Those whose life cards had ranged attack methods kept firing from a distance.

Those without ranged methods could only stand by and watch.

It seemed none of them had cultivated additional monster cards, or rather, up to now, Lu Sheng had not seen anyone cultivate a second monster card for combat.

Thinking about it, that made perfect sense. Not everyone was as wealthy as he was.

Not everyone had to worry about resources.

People were not all the same.

Below, the battle was fierce as the three men assaulted the desert giant with relentless force.

Even the mighty giant was steadily taking damage under their combined attack. At this rate, it would soon be unable to hold out.

As the desert giant’s reactions grew more sluggish, the three attackers became increasingly excited, striking faster and more frequently.

What surprised Lu Sheng was that the three of them still had not turned on one another. By rights, should they not have started fighting once the victory was within reach?

These three were not following the usual script.

With no choice, and with the Returnflow Desert at stake, Lu Sheng could only make his move.

He urged the White Cloud Horse toward the scene, and with a few soaring bounds he arrived.

“Who goes there!”

“Stop!”

The onlookers from the three groups sprang out to block him when they saw Lu Sheng charging in on the White Cloud Horse.

Lu Sheng paid them no mind. Those who were too close to dodge were simply trampled beneath the horse’s hooves.

Anyone who stepped into Lu Sheng’s path was struck by a hoof and sent flying, a fresh hoof-shaped bruise instantly blooming across their body.

They crashed to the ground, coughing up blood, unconscious and life uncertain.

He was here to steal the prize anyway, so why bother being polite?

These people, caught unprepared, could not stop Lu Sheng at all, and he surged through them without restraint.

The three men in the front, engaged in battle, also noticed Lu Sheng’s arrival and halted in tacit understanding.

The burly man wielding the door-slab blade fixed Lu Sheng with a fierce stare. “What do you mean by this, brother?”

The other two also stared at Lu Sheng with equally ferocious expressions.

The atmosphere in the field turned heavy at once, with the air thick enough to suggest that one wrong word would start a fight.

“Is my meaning not clear enough?” Lu Sheng waved a hand and summoned all his combat cards, releasing the aura of their fifth-tier power in full. “I am here to take the desert giant.”

Twenty-three monsters, all fifth-tier, crashed toward the three men with overwhelming pressure.

“Ah... no, that is not quite right. It is not really stealing. You have not killed the desert giant yet, so it does not belong to you.”

The man with the spear frowned. “Isn’t that a bit underhanded?”

“What do you mean, underhanded?” Lu Sheng mused for a moment. “Is there some rule that says whoever sees something in the wilderness first owns it?”

He looked at them and said, “I do not believe there is.”