In an instant.

The Armadillo stomped its feet on the ground, and suddenly, the newly built retreat site collapsed instantly, and a stream of earthy yellow light shot towards the Mountain God.

...

At the same time.

The Mountain God’s feet, made of stone blocks, were embedded in the earth, and streaks of yellow light resembling veins rose, flowing from the ground into its body.

As those yellow streams of light were absorbed, the Mountain God’s physique became more solid, the stone blocks composing its body even reflecting sunlight.

"Rustle, rustle---"

"Rustle, rustle---"

"Rustle, rustle---"

At the same time.

There was a constant rustling sound around the dense forest, with bushes shaking continuously, as if something was about to emerge.

Soon, the rustling stopped, and the bushes ceased shaking. However, within the dense forest, tens of thousands of weak demon beasts appeared. Undoubtedly, these demon beasts were all attracted by the Mountain God.

The attraction the Mountain God had for weak demon beasts was truly immense.

The moment they saw the Mountain God, the bloodline memories of all demon beasts were triggered, curious about seeing the legendary Mountain God.

"This Mountain God is too powerful, even its emitted aura is something we can’t resist!"

"Luckily, the Mountain God holds no hostility towards us, otherwise we’d all be dead."

"Having seen the Mountain God, we must properly worship it!"

...

At this moment, the Armadillo had also arrived in the dense forest and was immediately attracted by the aura of the ever-strengthening Mountain God. Seeing the feet continuously absorbing the earth’s power, its body involuntarily wanted to get closer, forcing it to enter a state of retreat.

As a result.

Just as it took a step, a familiar bone-chilling feeling spread throughout its body, freezing it in place, not daring to move forward.

Then, it slowly turned its head towards the source of the aura and saw that familiar yet unfamiliar figure.

Familiar because it had just passed through the hole it dug, unfamiliar because it only sensed the bone-chilling cold, never having truly seen it before.

"How did this Great Demon appear? Could it also have appeared because of the Mountain God?" the Armadillo speculated.

After all, nearly all the demon beasts present were attracted by the Mountain God, so it wasn’t surprising for the Tiger Demon to be here.

"But, this Great Mountain and this Tiger Demon seem to have a hostile relationship!"

Suddenly, a glaring sunlight shone on its face, and looking up, it realized the previously dense forest area was now stripped bare, with no trees to block the sun.

Now, the only place providing shade was the canopy of the Tiger Demon’s palanquin.

It was clear why the Mountain God had appeared.

As a spirit born in the Great Mountain, determined to protect everything there, the Tiger Demon had chopped down all these great trees, and the Mountain God was sure to come out to stop it, only...

"Although the aura of the Mountain God is terrifying, that’s from our perspective, but against the Tiger Demon, can it really win?"

The Armadillo felt a bit worried in its heart.

It didn’t want the Mountain God to lose; it was hoping to cultivate near the Mountain God.

"The Mountain God can absorb the earth’s power and has extremely strong defenses. Even if it can’t defeat the Tiger Demon, it can wear it out!"

The Armadillo watched the Mountain God endlessly absorbing the earth’s power, and its confidence swelled instantly.

...

Tiger General looked at the Mountain God before him with curiosity. Although it knew what it was, it was the first time seeing such a spirit, especially the rare Mountain God.

"I didn’t expect, in such a remote place, not only to encounter that impenetrable white fog, humanity’s special constitution that speeds up the Snake King Awakening, but also the ancient beast lord -- Kunpeng Bloodline!"

"And now, there’s a Mountain God too?!"

"This Great Mountain was randomly chosen by the Snake King, and the King of Yue hasn’t even sent anyone to guard it, yet it’s witnessing such astonishing things happening frequently, truly interesting!!"

Being a creature seeing it for the first time, Tiger General remained very curious, its gaze shifting to those feet that had merged with the earth, where streams like veins were incessantly infusing the Mountain God with the earth’s power.

"No wonder it’s the Mountain God, able to absorb the earth’s power!"

The Mountain God, being of earth and a spirit of nature, was the darling of the land, able to absorb earthen power, which was quite normal.

"However, as a newly born Mountain God, even if you absorb the power, how much can your body endure?"

Tiger General looked at the Mountain God with mocking eyes, ignoring its actions and allowing it to absorb the earth’s power.

"Squeak, squeak---"

"Chirp, chirp---"

"Howl, howl---"

"Hiss, hiss---"

At this moment, the demon beasts attracted by the Mountain God also understood the situation and began to roar.

For a moment, the whole Great Mountain echoed with the sounds of various demon beasts, louder than a marketplace. Even some demon beasts couldn’t stand the noise, covering their ears but still roaring nonstop.

The Guardian quartet of Jackal, Wolf, Tiger, and Leopard also found the noise unbearable, as they gathered Spiritual Qi towards their ears to block their hearing, finally finding some peace.

"Noisy!"

Tiger General listened to the commotion, suddenly roaring loudly. A tiger’s howl filled with immense coldness reverberated through the mountain forest, and as the roar emerged, the surrounding temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

Simultaneously, the sound waves of the tiger’s howl transformed into ripples like river water, spreading outward, the invisible sound waves rushing towards the roaring demon horde.

"Boom--- Boom--- Boom---"

Several loud echoes resounded through the Great Mountain, followed by rising thick smoke in front of the demon horde.

When the smoke cleared.

The Mountain God, previously standing still, was now guarding the demon horde, raising an earthy yellow shield that blocked the sound waves outside. The earlier booming was from the tiger’s howl hitting the shield.

Seeing the Mountain God acting like a Great Mountain, shielding them, the demon beasts’ eyes filled with anticipation, waving their hands and roaring even louder.

The Armadillo, also protected by this shield, felt its Spiritual Qi tremble a few times upon the Mountain God’s close proximity, as if about to break through its cultivation bottleneck.

"This Mountain God’s effect is far stronger than those in bloodline memory!!"

The Armadillo was extremely excited, just nearing it could cause a breakthrough, eliminating years of cultivation bottleneck. There’s no need for retreat training at all!

Not far off, Tiger General saw his tiger’s howl being blocked, not surprised, just letting out a cold snort.

Opening its tiger paw, suddenly, the sharp claws appeared, the cold gleam stimulating every demon beast’s heart, their fear making them too scared to move.

But luckily, the Mountain God was there.

Tiger General lifted its tiger paw, the sharp claws slicing through the air, seemingly slicing space itself, creating distortions.

"So you want to protect these ants? Then let’s see what you can do!!"

Saying that, the fierce burst of Spiritual Qi erupted from Tiger General’s body, massive muscles forming on its arms, freezing the surroundings so much that even Spiritual Qi couldn’t flow.

"Swish---"

Soon after, Tiger General swung its stout arm, the icy sharp claws slashing towards the Mountain God, leaving a cold gleam, as if ripping through space, quickly streaking towards the Mountain God.

"Bang---"

In the blink of an eye, that sharp claw had reached the Mountain God’s shield.

But the Mountain God was prepared, continuously propelling the yellow vein-like energy at its feet, unceasingly drawing earth’s power to reinforce its shield, expanding it several dozen feet, securely guarding the demon horde behind it.