Brian Carter only felt a sharp pain in his back, then fell forward, rolling several times. He stood up, and without needing to check, he knew his back was already covered in blood.

It was because wood chips, flying everywhere with the raging wind, had pierced through his clothes and into his flesh.

“What’s going on…”

He hurriedly glanced back, only to see that the original thatched hut had disappeared. Atop the mountain peak, in its place, was a gigantic head.

That head was at least twenty zhang in diameter, incomparably huge, with thick, red hair growing from the top. Its face was bluish and rugged, its eyes emerald green, looking extremely ferocious.

Its fangs were sharp, its mouth tightly shut, filled with wood chips and dry grass.

It had actually bitten the entire thatched hut to pieces in one bite.

“Run…”

Howard Green seemed to recognize it, so terrified that his soul nearly left his body. He didn’t care about the terrifying aura of fire talismans and long blades on Brian Carter, grabbed his arm, and hurriedly ran down the mountain.

Brian Carter felt a chill in his heart, cold sweat covering his whole body.

He held Grace in his arms and fled with Howard Green.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the head had already lifted up.

It was, unmistakably, a giant as tall as a mountain.

Its head was enormous, with a blue face and fangs, but its body was very much like a human’s, muscles knotted and bulging, like an ancient god or demon. When it stood up, it was over a hundred zhang tall.

And this mountain peak only reached its knees.

Then it lifted its foot and stepped forward.

The mountain peak was right in front of it, so it simply lifted its foot and kicked the mountain to pieces.

Just like a child kicking apart a mound of sand, it was effortless.

But this was not a sand pile—it was a mountain, covered with countless plants and teeming with living creatures, birds and beasts, its core made of solid rock, standing here for untold ages, condensed and unyielding through the passage of time.

Yet in front of this giant, it was still kicked to dust.

Countless fragments of rock flew in all directions.

Some fragments were as large as houses, others as small as grains of sand.

There was even a huge boulder, as big as a house, that flew dozens of li away and smashed into the mountain opposite, shattering it.

Billowing dust and smoke blotted out the bright moonlight.

The mountain collapsed, the earth split.

……

Brian Carter only felt the ground beneath his feet become unstable, then it completely crumbled.

He, along with the rocks, was flung into the air, falling downward.

During this, a massive boulder came crashing from the side.

“Damn.”

Brian Carter didn’t know how to defend himself. He could only hold Grace tightly with his left arm, and with his right hand, jabbed at the boulder with an iron staff.

The iron staff touched the boulder.

A tremendous force surged from the tip.

It was like the power of mountains and rivers, unstoppable by human strength.

Brian Carter was shaken, spat out a mouthful of blood, and then fell into darkness.

All he saw was pitch black.

In the darkness, in the void.

There was only deathly silence and desolation.

……

“You… are…”

The darkness and silence were torn open by a deep, hoarse voice.

Already injured and nearly suffocating, Brian Carter suddenly found his breathing smooth again.

He opened his eyes and saw Howard Green moving aside a boulder.

It turned out he was lucky—buried in a crevice between rocks, the surrounding stones blocked the giant boulders pressing down from above. But it was thanks to Howard Green, who moved away some of the smaller rocks above, that a gap was revealed, preventing him from being trapped to death.

Brian Carter pushed Grace upward, and said with difficulty, “Pull the child up first.”

Howard Green took the child, then reached out his hairy hand and pulled up Brian Carter.

Brian Carter felt that hand was extremely rough, strong and powerful, but no longer carried the threat he’d felt before. Instead, he felt somewhat reassured.

……

The dust and smoke still covered the sky, thick as clouds.

But this place was already a wasteland.

“What on earth was that thing?”

Brian Carter looked at the fear in Howard Green’s eyes, and though he himself was still shaken, he asked, “What is it?”

“It’s said… that… is… the mountain god.”

Howard Green still spoke haltingly, but it was clear enough.

“The mountain god?”

Brian Carter’s gaze sharpened slightly.

It was rumored that beings like Howard Green, if they cultivated enough power, would often occupy a region, call themselves mountain gods, stir up trouble, and rule over an area.

But the one just now was clearly not Howard Green.

Howard Green paused, then said, “It is… the king. In the mountains… all call it… the great mountain demon.”

Brian Carter murmured, “The great mountain demon?”

He looked south.

On the distant horizon, there was a toppled human figure.

Even though it was far away, it was still clear that it was a human shape.

If it were an ordinary person, it would be as tiny as a speck of dust.

But this figure, even from afar, could still be seen clearly.

Because it was simply too enormous.

Chapter 9: The Death of the Mountain God and the Gaining of the Earth Dragon

The giant had collapsed ahead, motionless, without a sound.

“It… seems… mad…”

Howard Green patted his throat, then said, “Then, it fell down.”

Brian Carter gazed in that direction, his expression complex and shifting.

The great mountain demon could shatter a mountain with a mere lift of its foot—truly formidable, unstoppable.

But now it seemed completely still, as if it were already dead.

Perhaps its earlier madness was because it was about to die.

“The great mountain demon.”