The edge of the black mist in Black Cloud Marsh.
It wasn't only Xiluo and Li Boyang fighting against those corrupted creatures.
As more and more corrupted creatures emerged from the black mist, the divine spirits and Spirit Monsters living nearby also became aware of the approaching danger.
In the Hundred Lands Mountain Range, mountain gods as stubborn as Xiluo were indeed a minority.
When the mountains and rivers where they resided were invaded by the black mist.
The vast majority of Mountain Gods and River Gods made the same decision as the Spirit Monsters—stay away from the black mist.
However, just like there are exceptions among Mountain Gods such as Xiluo.
There are likewise some Spirit Monsters who defy the trend.
The dog-headed Panhu was such a unique existence.
As a Spirit Monster who could already sense the Earth Vein Qi, Panhu was just one step away from transforming into a dragon dog and advancing to become a Mountain God.
But, with the emergence of the black mist, unwilling to leave Yunfu Mountain like other Mountain Gods and Spirit Monsters, Panhu had no choice but to fight alone.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Inevitable, Panhu wore a Five-Colored Robe and wielded a Grinding Disc Axe.
Even when facing the onslaught of multiple corrupted creatures, he exhibited a battle prowess unlike any ordinary Spirit Monster.
With each strike of his axe, he could directly split open a corrupted creature's skull.
In contrast, these corrupted creatures, aside from their fearlessness of death, had physical qualities that were even inferior to those of beasts in their normal state.
Under these circumstances of gain and loss, the black mist within a hundred meters seemed intimidated by Panhu, unable to spread towards Yunfu Mountain.
"Awoo!"
As Panhu once again cleaved open a corrupted creature's head, he suddenly howled towards the sky.
The howl, like that of a wolf or dog, resonated far and wide.
Soon after, more howls of wolves and dogs echoed from the nearby mountains and villages, responding to Panhu's call.
"Roar!"
At this moment, the black mist suddenly echoed with the roar of a fierce tiger.
The next second, a pitch-black tiger, its skeletal structure exposed due to corruption, abruptly sprang out.
Due to its almost seamless integration with the black mist.
Panhu, in the midst of calling his kin, unwittingly got struck by a claw from the beast.
Rip!
In an instant, sharp claws left deep, bone-revealing scars on Panhu.
Fortunately, Panhu's rich combat experience allowed him to quickly retreat and roll, dissipating the force from his body.
Otherwise, that single blow, even for someone as strong as Panhu, would have likely shattered his bones, leaving him completely unable to fight.
Despite this, staring at the still fierce and utterly dark tiger.
Panhu still gripped his Grinding Disc Axe tightly, already prepared to fight to the death.
"Awoo!"
Because Panhu recognized this pitch-black tiger.
It was originally an entity in this mountain forest about to transform into a Spirit Monster.
But now, due to the spread of this black mist, it had been corrupted into such an ugly figure.
The gap between Spirit Monsters and beasts wasn't as vast as most might imagine.
At the very least, as a ruler of this forest, even the already transformed Spirit Monsters dared not provoke this pitch-black tiger lightly.
Swoosh!
As the tiger was about to pounce on Panhu again, a crisp, sharp sound cut through the air.
In the blink of an eye, the alert tiger tried to dodge to the side.
Yet it was still a beat too slow, getting pierced through the neck by a golden streak, separating its head from its body.
"Roar..."
Even as its head rolled to the ground, the tiger tried to roar.
Unaware that its body and head were already in two different places.
"..."
Seeing this, Panhu, who had witnessed everything, did not relax his guard.
Instead, he became even more tense, raising his head to gaze into the sky, staring at the golden streak still circling above.
"..."
Until Panhu noticed that in the direction where the golden streak was retreating, a crimson figure seemed to appear.
Only then did he feel at ease and lowered his Grinding Disc Axe.
Vaguely, Panhu seemed to hear that crimson figure saying something.
"You're asking about that dog brat?"
"He's the foster son of the Elderly Lady Gao from the neighboring Gao Family Village, an anomaly among Spirit Monsters..."
...........................
[Foster son? Spirit Monster?]
[These are two terms that seem utterly unrelated, yet somehow both apply to one individual.]
To be honest, even though Li Boyang repeatedly overestimated the absurdity of this world, he still didn't expect a Spirit Monster to be the foster child of a human.
From Panhu's battle stance of refusing to retreat, Li Boyang found it easy to imagine the deep bond between him and his adoptive mother.
"What's so strange about that?"
"If anything's strange, wasn't it your parents who raised a freak like you?"
With a glance at the oblivious Golden Sword Pill, Xiluo's sarcasm was as sharp as ever.
"Apart from the difference in birth, there's not much difference between you and that dog brat."
Weaving back and forth through the forest, under Xiluo's subsequent elaboration, Li Boyang finally understood Panhu's origins.
About twenty years ago, the Elderly Lady Gao from Gao Family Village developed an ear ailment, which swelled into a blister.
Lacking even the most basic medical conditions and knowledge, Elderly Lady Gao initially didn't pay much attention to the ear ailment.
Until the ailment worsened, swelling to the point of affecting her daily life.
Elderly Lady Gao then pierced the blister and extracted a hard-shelled insect, about the size of a cocoon.
Perhaps out of curiosity, or simply because of her easygoing nature...
Elderly Lady Gao casually placed the hard-shelled insect in a gourd at home, leaving it unattended.
Until the following spring, when the insect hatched into a puppy with fur in five colors.
Initially, Elderly Lady Gao only saw the puppy as a typical guard dog.
However, as time passed, she gradually realized the pup was exceptionally intelligent, even understanding her words.
Naturally, the lonely and widowed Elderly Lady Gao began to raise this puppy as her son.
For Elderly Lady Gao, who was childless.
The puppy's arrival undoubtedly filled the void in her later years.
Thus, twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.
The once little puppy grew and started imitating Elderly Lady Gao by walking on two legs.
Since the pup was born in a gourd, Elderly Lady Gao named it "Panhu."
By now, Panhu had already become a member of Gao Family Village, constantly by Elderly Lady Gao's side.
To be honest, were it not for Elderly Lady Gao's advanced age, making it difficult for her to endure the suffering of leaving her hometown.
Panhu probably wouldn't frequently appear at the edge of the black mist, repeatedly stopping the corrupted creatures from attacking Gao Family Village.
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