Bruno, on the other hand, was overjoyed. The moment they left the city, he charged ahead with all his might—truly like wind and lightning, even faster than he’d been in the desert.
Though sometimes quite sensitive, Bruno was still no match for someone like Garrick. Hearing Quinn personally assure the Patriarch’s son that the Patriarch wasn’t dead but had become a god, the big fat dragon couldn’t help but be elated, working even harder.
Quinn felt a little guilty for deceiving him.
"In the sea of mist outside the Living-Dead Realm, the skeleton ferrying the boat should be Jasper Ling," Quinn thought.
He mused, "If that’s Jasper Ling, then the Patriarch is most likely also in the Living-Dead Realm. Village Chief gave me eight Nether City Coins—I must return to Nether City and find out the truth!"
He took out the Western Lands map Garrick had given him, unfolded it, and after a while finally found the locations of True Heaven Palace and Fairgrace City. Looking up to judge his position, he immediately gave Bruno directions, heading southwest.
Ahead of them, a mountain blocked the road. It was an odd sight: the mountain looked like a giant standing there, with two peaks drooping from its shoulders. Strangely, the two peaks thickened and rounded as they reached the ground, looking just like two enormous bells resting on the earth.
The post road split in two here, threading between the two giant bells and skirting around the main body of this bizarre mountain.
When Bruno reached this spot, Quinn looked up and saw a woman in black robes and a black dress—her figure graceful and floating—drifting up the mountain.
She landed on what would be the giant's head, where a dazzling golden placard hung, as if stamped onto the mountaintop.
Quinn’s pupils contracted sharply. He saw the woman starting to tear off the placard atop the mountain!
"Not good! Bruno, charge!"
He had barely finished speaking when the mountain suddenly rumbled—its massive body lifted a foot, heavy stone pulling free from the earth as if an entire peak was being uprooted!
Quinn knew things were going south. He drew the Worryless Sword—shua!—and sent it streaking straight at the woman atop the mountain.
Take out the leader first—this mountain giant must be powered by a cultivator’s magic, awakening its spirit. If he killed the woman, he could probably halt the transformation!
The woman glanced back, sneered coldly, and said, "You killed a Yu clan disciple. I don’t care if you’re the King of Heaven himself—you’re going down with me!"
The mountain giant pulled out one leg, stomping onto the ground, dirt flying everywhere. Then it wrenched free its other leg and slowly stood up.
As the mountain giant rose, clouds wrapped its waist, and the two bell-shaped side peaks were lifted as well. Stones tumbled down in a torrent, quickly piling up and blocking the road.
With the mountain giant standing tall, the woman atop it was hoisted even higher. The Worryless Sword spun, drilling upward in a sword-spiral straight into the sky.
The Yu clan woman atop the giant’s head realized the danger, shouted, and sent out rings that flew from her hand, aiming to bind the incoming Worryless Sword!
Clang-clang-clang! A rain of sharp impacts rang out as the rings tried to catch the Worryless Sword, shrinking rapidly—only to be shredded by the spinning blade.
Her cultivation was strong, but Western Lands techniques rely on borrowing the power of all things rather than strengthening oneself. Compared to Everpeace cultivators of the same realm, her personal combat power was much weaker—let alone against Quinn, who’d fought his way up as Heavenly Demon Cult Master.
The Worryless Sword was a true divine weapon—razor-sharp and unstoppable. It shredded countless rings without losing momentum, piercing up through the woman’s jaw and out the top of her skull.
A streak of blood flashed atop the mountain.
Quinn retrieved the Worryless Sword, but before he could breathe easy, most of the stone on the two side peaks fell away, revealing huge bronze bells beneath. These peaks were not real mountains—they were bells covered in stone!
Quinn had seen plenty of spirit weapons, but nothing this massive except for sect-suppressing treasures!
Though Western spirit weapons weren’t as refined as Everpeace’s, sect-suppressing treasures were no joke—they were forged by Divine Bridge cultivators over a lifetime, and their power was extraordinary.
That placard on the mountaintop must have been a seal, keeping the mountain giant locked away! This giant was likely an ancient spirit, sealed here by its master as a hereditary guardian treasure for the clan.
Quinn’s eye twitched. He instantly sensed danger as the mountain giant hefted both bells, swung them together, and smashed them with a thunderous crash—aimed right at him!
This wasn’t just an awakened giant—it was a sealed one. The Yu clan had kept it here, ready to unleash it when needed, to defend the family with this terrifying guardian!
CLANG—
The two giant bronze bells collided, unleashing waves of sound that rolled forward, stacking and churning the road as they slammed toward Bruno.
But the real threat wasn’t the upheaved road—it was the bell’s roar.
The crash of two sect-suppressing treasures—an earth-shaking, soul-stirring peal!
"Western aristocrats are this savage? Bruno, don’t move!"
Quinn couldn’t help but marvel. His yuanqi erupted, runes whirling around him and Bruno, wrapping them both up. The annihilating sound wave crashed in, but before it reached Bruno, the runes formed a teleportation array—Quinn triggered the spell, and they vanished together.
The next instant, Bruno and Quinn appeared about a li away. If Quinn teleported alone, he could cover twenty or thirty li; with one person, over ten li. But carrying a massive beast like Bruno, a single li was his limit.
Yet for the mountain giant, a li was nothing—one stride could easily cross ten li!
Quinn glanced back and saw the post road where they’d just stood whip into the air, fluttering like a ribbon in the wind, then shatter under the violent sound wave.
The bell’s sound had destroyed more than twenty li of road—truly pulverizing everything in its path!
"The mountain giant has no spell power—just brute force striking the bells, and it’s still this terrifying. Incredible."
Quinn couldn’t help but praise it. Bruno immediately bolted, and behind them, the enormous mountain giant turned, striding after them. Quinn felt doom looming overhead—he looked up and saw the giant’s huge foot already above them.
Bruno’s speed shot up, surging past the speed of sound. The fat beast was running so fast it startled Quinn—he had no idea what Bruno had eaten, but his speed far surpassed anything before!
In this crisis, Bruno wasn’t thinking about how to scam better food from his master—he was focused on surviving, and his speed was jaw-dropping.
BOOM!
Behind them, the mountain giant’s foot crashed down, gouging a lake in the earth, while its other hand swung a massive bronze bell forward.
Bruno sprinted like mad. The bell landed behind them, but its power was terrifying—the sound waves traveled through the ground, spreading three to five times faster than through air.
The ground behind them exploded in a crackling roar, the scene utterly terrifying. The shockwave chased Bruno with a thunderous boom, blasting him into the air.
Bruno frantically conjured fire-clouds beneath his feet, sprinting atop the flames. Behind him, the mountain giant swung the other giant bell, lifting the one that had just struck the ground and smashing them together in midair!
CLANG—
The bells rang out, and at the point of collision, the sound waves compressed the air into something almost solid. The vibrations traveled even faster through this dense air.
Quinn shuddered, flipping backward and quickly pulling out the Lunar Jade Eye. Light flared from the jade, slicing straight into the incoming sound wave.
VMMM.
The annihilating sound wave was split in two by the Lunar Jade Eye’s beam—two terrifying shockwaves swept past Bruno, the vibration so intense it made Quinn’s scalp tingle.
If that wave had hit them, he, Bruno, and Bear Qier would have been shattered into countless fragments—erased from existence.
"The Western Lands do have hidden depths, but this kind of legacy isn’t great for cultivation."
Quinn looked back—the mountain giant’s left shoulder had been cleaved by the Lunar Jade Eye’s light. Bruno was now far from the giant, and its power could no longer reach them.
Suddenly, the mountain giant crouched. Quinn’s heart leapt—he saw the giant burst into a run, moving impossibly fast!
"My god... No, someone must be controlling this giant. It couldn’t target me and Bruno so relentlessly otherwise!"
Quinn realized the Yu clan woman who’d broken the seal was dead—someone else must be controlling the mountain giant, hidden nearby and extremely powerful to manage such a colossal guardian.
Just then, a sword light flashed across the sky, and a head fell from midair, followed by several body parts—an old woman with silver hair, clutching a cane that was also severed.
Quinn froze for a moment, then looked at the mountain giant—it had suddenly gone stiff, no longer pursuing them.
It must have been that white-haired old woman controlling the giant. Otherwise, why would it attack Quinn so viciously the moment it awoke?
"Bruno, stop!"
Bruno stopped at once, confused. Quinn activated the Fire-Sky Divine Eye and looked at the mountain giant—he saw a figure atop its head, vaguely recognizable as Geke.
The sword light circled the mountaintop figure twice.
The figure bowed to Quinn: "Safe travels!"
Quinn bowed in return: "Thank you for your kind wishes."
He watched as the figure waved a flag, wrapped it around himself, and vanished from the mountain.
"Teleportation flag. The Patriarch gave him one."
Quinn smiled. "He’s just like the Patriarch—outwardly indifferent to fame, but genuinely warm-hearted. Geke is truly worthy as the Patriarch’s son. Bruno, the Patriarch has a successor now."