Mutated wild oxen were like kings in the deep mountains. Their massive bodies shook the ground as they moved, causing small stones to gently jolt.
While hunters spoke of bears as the first, tigers as the second, and wild boars as the third, the southern regions lacked bears and tigers. Thus, wild boars seemed to be the most fearsome in the mountains.
However, this ranking actually referred to their destructive potential. A single wild boar could devastate several acres of sweet potato fields overnight. In terms of combat power, wild boars were no match for wild oxen; the difference in size was evident. Even wild boars would detour to avoid wild oxen.
Consequently, when the wild ox encountered Shen Feng in the mountains, it began to attack ferociously. Shen Feng dared not confront it directly. Such a monster could headbutt a tree down; being hit by one would surely mean certain death.
Shen Feng devised a plan: he would act after the wild ox’s charge ended and its horns became stuck in a tree trunk. At this point, the wild ox would be exhausted and unable to exert its full strength instantly. Shen Feng seized this opportunity.
Holding his sword with both hands, he thrust it forward fiercely, piercing the tough hide. Wild ox hide was very resilient; ancient people often made armor from it. However, with the immense strength Shen Feng exerted, the sword tip's destructive power was maximized. With a "hiss," the long sword penetrated the ox's hide, severing one of its arteries.
Blood gushed out violently. Shen Feng released his sword and swiftly retreated. The wild ox, still in a frenzy, thrashed its horns, which had been pulled free from the tree trunk, in all directions. However, its artery had been severed, and blood sprayed out like a fountain. The wild ox gradually lost its strength. When it lost over a quarter of its blood, it collapsed, unable to rise again!
"Phew, I'm still better than you!" Shen Feng breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how strong mutated beasts were, they could never surpass him.
In the following time, Shen Feng delved deeper into the forest to continue his battles. By now, Shen Feng could be considered invincible, at least on land. As long as Shen Feng could fully utilize his speed advantage, no one could harm him. Furthermore, there weren't many mutated birds in the forest, so Shen Feng wasn't worried about aerial attacks. He only needed to focus on fighting.
Before most mutated beasts could even see Shen Feng, their bodies were sliced open by wind blades, and they died in agony, their demise gruesome.
The largest animals on land were only seventy to eighty meters long; that was their limit for growth. Shen Feng had only encountered four such colossal creatures: two in the Yangtze River and two in the sky. Only super-large mutated beasts could pose a threat to Shen Feng!
Shen Feng did not dare to underestimate mutated beasts in the sea, as even warships could be sunk, and the monsters in the ocean were truly ferocious.
Thus, Shen Feng charged into the mountains. Wherever he passed, mutated beasts lay dead in heaps; not a single one escaped Shen Feng's grasp. Shen Feng's overwhelming strength also boosted the morale of his soldiers. The soldiers followed their city lord and charged out, pushing the northern front forward. Lu Kaiyang could no longer control these frenzied soldiers, and mercenaries, hoping to profit, also charged alongside the soldiers, albeit at a slightly slower pace.
Under these circumstances, the northern front advanced southward, pushing forward five kilometers in a single day.
Shen Feng stood on the mountaintop, his long sword already blunted. Although this long sword was made of fine steel, it could not withstand such intense chopping and hacking for an entire day. Being blunted was quite normal; if it were of lesser quality, it might have even broken.
Many mutated beast carcasses lay on the ground. A large number of animals had been cut in half. Some were killed by wind blades, while others were casually slain by Shen Feng's sword. A thick smell of blood lingered in the air. Shen Feng was splattered with blood, making him appear terrifying.
Shen Feng had been fighting for half the day and felt weary. He didn't know how many mutated beasts he had killed, but a glance back revealed a bloody path on the ground wherever he had been.
"Hoo..." Shen Feng exhaled deeply, feeling that the worries and doubts that had weighed on his heart for days had vanished with the day's battles. As long as he kept fighting, he could feel that he was alive, surviving in this tragic world.
However, conversely, Shen Feng also felt that he had lost something in the midst of his killing. This was not a physical change but a mental one. Externally, Shen Feng remained the same, but much of his innate kindness had disappeared.
There was no sin more heinous than taking a life; hence, a gentleman kept his distance from the butcher's cleaver.
Shen Feng had killed countless mutated beasts in a single day. What he was doing now was taking lives. Although not human lives, it was undeniable that Shen Feng had personally ended countless lives. These mutated beasts also felt pain and possessed thoughts; they were not unfeeling beings like plants.
Chang Haojie, from the sky, was the first to spot Shen Feng. Although he had thrown several grenades from above amidst the chaos, their killing effect was clearly inferior to Shen Feng's. As for Shen Feng, he had disappeared into the mountains after charging in. He had been charging forward, and the soldiers behind him couldn't keep up.
"Brother-in-law!" Chang Haojie descended from the sky, intending to greet Shen Feng.
But Shen Feng suddenly turned back with a cold gaze, his eyes utterly devoid of warmth. Chang Haojie was stunned by this look and froze in place, as if being stared down by a fierce beast. If he showed any weakness, he would immediately be struck by a subsequent attack.
Chang Haojie involuntarily tensed his muscles. If Shen Feng made any further move, he would turn and flee. This was the instinct of self-preservation. In his subconscious, he had already perceived Shen Feng as a terrifying monster, and even as family, he dared not underestimate him.
However, Shen Feng's expression soon returned to normal. He smiled and asked, "Little Jie? What brings you here?"
Seeing his brother-in-law smile, Chang Haojie felt the pressure instantly vanish. He couldn't help but take a deep breath and say, "Brother-in-law, you scared me to death. Don't look at me with such a blank expression in the future; it puts a lot of pressure on me."
Shen Feng chuckled at this and nodded, saying, "Alright, alright. From now on, I'll smile at everyone. Also, you youngster have too many demands. I have to greet you with a smiling face too. Young people these days are so hard to please!"
Chang Haojie felt a little embarrassed, as if he were being portrayed as a timid coward. He couldn't help but say, "Brother-in-law, you have a killing aura about you. Don't you know?"
Shen Feng gently shook his head and said, "I don't know. This killing aura thing, it's hard to say if it exists or not. I can't feel it myself."
Although Shen Feng had sensed the presence of a killing aura subconsciously before, he was ultimately unsure if this feeling was correct. Previously, Shen Feng had sensed a killing aura from Hong Yuhui, but when he looked up, she was smiling at him.
Shen Feng also felt that perhaps he was too tense at times, and relying solely on feelings to judge other matters was incorrect. Intuition was often wrong.
Chang Haojie said earnestly, "I didn't find it strange before, but after you killed so many mutated beasts today, I truly noticed it. You have a strong killing aura about you now. Forget about me; anyone who sees you would be scared."
Chang Haojie tried to prove that Shen Feng's killing aura was intense, which would also serve to justify his own timidity.
Shen Feng shrugged helplessly and said, "Let's go. We'll head back and see what the results of today's battle are."
Shen Feng had no intention of debating whether the killing aura existed. He planned to return to the military camp to check on the battle situation, expecting the day's gains to be substantial.
Chang Haojie summoned clouds and took Shen Feng with him to fly north. Although it was still afternoon, winter was approaching, and the sky darkened rapidly. Shadows could already be seen on the distant mountains. After flying north for a while, the two saw a group of people on the ground cleaning up the battlefield.
Mercenaries were loading the mutated beasts killed during the day onto vehicles, preparing to transport them back to Yuzhou. A small portion of the mutated beasts were sent to the cooks to be prepared as food.
Chang Haojie slowly landed and found Lu Kaiyang, who was directing soldiers in clearing the battlefield.
"Look carefully, you must deliver the final blow to all the larger mutated beasts. These things are very resilient. We received news from the south that some mutated beasts have learned to feign death and often ambush people during battlefield cleanup. Therefore, it's better to waste energy delivering the final blow than to do nothing!" Lu Kaiyang was loudly instructing his soldiers.
Upon hearing this, the soldiers did not dare to underestimate the mutated beasts and began delivering the final blows. This could be considered desecrating the corpses at this point, as many clearly dead animals were repeatedly stabbed with bayonets or daggers. There were indeed mutated beasts feigning death, but not many.
Shen Feng found Lu Kaiyang and smiled, saying, "It seems I didn't misjudge you. You are a very suitable commander. You managed quite well today without me by your side."
Hearing this, Lu Kaiyang sighed and pointed to the many dismembered mutated beasts on the ground, asking, "City Lord, did you kill all these mutated beasts?"
Shen Feng nodded proudly and said, "I did. How about that? Impressive, right? Work hard, and if you accumulate enough merit, I'll reward you. A small reward would be a building, and a significant reward would be an ability-enhancing potion. Understand?"
Lu Kaiyang's face lit up at this, but then he thought of the day's events and shook his head, saying, "City Lord, I don't think I can adapt to the commander's duties, so please find someone else. You see, when you charged forward, your soldiers and the mercenaries all followed suit, and I couldn't stop them. It was fine today because there were no breaches, but if there had been a breach, I wouldn't have been able to prevent it. Therefore, I really am not suited for the commander's role."
At this point, Lu Kaiyang's intention was clear: he did not wish to continue as commander.
Shen Feng understood immediately. This was not a refusal of duty; it was a complaint about him leading the charge earlier. Lu Kaiyang dared not openly accuse him, so he indirectly expressed his desire to resign, which was essentially a tactic of advancing by retreating.
Shen Feng was no longer the naive novice he once was. After a year of tempering, while he wouldn't claim to be adept at human relations, he could be considered somewhat worldly. Now that he understood Lu Kaiyang's true intentions, he quickly said, "Brother, you absolutely cannot resign! The reason I charged forward today was to end the war as quickly as possible. It made things difficult for you in terms of process, but from the outcome, wasn't it quite good? I promise, I won't charge recklessly next time!"
Hearing Shen Feng say this, Lu Kaiyang's expression finally softened. After all, Shen Feng had given him ample respect and even made a promise. If he were to continue to be stubborn about this matter, it would be unreasonable, and unreasonable people often struggled in many aspects.
"Since the City Lord has entrusted me with such an important task, I cannot easily refuse. What I said earlier was simply because I lacked confidence. If there was anything unpleasant to hear, please pretend you didn't hear it," Lu Kaiyang quickly added.
Shen Feng nodded. This matter was now settled.
Chang Haojie witnessed this scene and was confused. He couldn't understand why his brother-in-law, the City Lord of Yuzhou, would be so subservient to his subordinates. Clearly, if his brother-in-law had just displayed that cold gaze and combined it with his killing aura, Lu Kaiyang would have had no choice but to bow his head and admit fault. Yet, his brother-in-law was apologizing, which was very uncharacteristic of a City Lord.
Therefore, in private, Chang Haojie couldn't help but ask, "Brother-in-law, can't you be a bit tougher in front of your subordinates? If you're always so amiable, no one will be afraid of you!"
Shen Feng patted his younger brother-in-law's shoulder and explained, "Sometimes, toughness doesn't solve problems. Moreover, a cold superior will cause resentment among subordinates. I don't need people to fear me; I need them to act with me, understand?"
"I don't understand!" Chang Haojie replied honestly. In his understanding, a true strong person must inspire fear. Walking on the street, people should bow and greet them respectfully; only then could they be considered strong. Yet, his brother-in-law's current demeanor was clearly too soft.
"You'll understand in the future. The martial world isn't just about fighting and settling scores with swords; it's about human relationships and navigating social complexities. It's difficult enough to manage them!" Shen Feng said, affecting a different tone.
"Huh?" Chang Haojie looked bewildered. Wasn't this about prestige? Why did it suddenly shift to the martial world? Wasn't the martial world something that only appeared in television dramas?
He had heard that only people in martial arts novels constantly talked about the martial world. Could it be that Yuzhou also had some martial world?