The lion's golden mane was already soaked dark with blood.

Some of it belonged to the silver-backed ape emperor, some to the lion itself.

The pierced wounds across its chest and belly lent it an even more savage air.

Along its powerful spine, muscles rippled slowly as it unhurriedly repeated the motion — wrenching the spear free, then driving it viciously down again.

In its grip, that long spear looked more like a short dagger.

Until the black bear beneath its feet had been stabbed beyond all recognition, dead past any possibility of being deader.

Shen Yi let out a long breath, and as if somewhat spent, casually flung the spear to the ground.

Clang.

"Gulp."

The crisp sound of the spear hitting the ground and the sound of a swallow came almost at the same instant.

The Xuanguang Cave woman had seen demons slaughter one another before, but never with her own eyes had she witnessed a killing this quiet.

Feeling the lion's pair of golden eyes turn toward her—

she suddenly shuddered, and only because her master stood beside her did she force herself to hold her body steady, saying with rather less conviction than she'd have liked, "Consider yourself sensible — now... now kneel and surrender."

"..."

Zhang Xuanyan watched the whole scene through in silence. For the sake of his own dignity, he kept the astonishment in his heart from showing on his face.

Merely on the suspicion that the silver-backed ape emperor had been trying to divert disaster onto him—

this lion had slaughtered two of its own companions without the slightest hesitation. Ruthlessness of this order was something even he fell short of.

Would a demon emperor like this really surrender so meekly?

He wasn't entirely certain.

But the creature did appear to have taken no light wounds.

That full-force hammering from the silver-backed ape emperor was something even he couldn't have withstood head-on — yet the lion hadn't so much as tried to dodge, and beneath those terrible pierced wounds, the beating of its very organs was faintly visible.

"..."

Shen Yi paced…