The journey was a silent one, as neither Skymender nor Sword Grandmaster Shang were the type to speak unnecessarily.
Three months passed by without any unexpected events or issues. In the distance, Skymender saw mountains that reached the sky. There were not too many, but they were arranged in a large circle. They perfectly blocked the view of anything within the circle.
"Here it is. Let's go." Sword Grandmaster Shang said before stopping the carriage.
He tied everything up neatly and they started to run towards the mountains. He wasn't worried about anyone stealing it. It bore the insignia of the Faceless Empire, and no person would dare touch such a thing any longer.
They moved quickly, reaching the mountains in a few minutes. They began to climb up them.
Although they were quite tall, it wasn't any trouble to either of them.
As they got higher, Skymender could sense something wrong with the vibrations in the area. There seemed to be something disturbing them every ten or so seconds.
They got higher, and he pinpointed why. There was an unfathomably large vibration being sent out in a rather rhythmic manner.
He couldn't see what was causing it, but he was sure that it was even heavier than the Mountain Serpent. He told Sword Grandmaster Shang about this, and he nodded.
"It seems there truly is some mythical beast here." He said.
Both of them turned much more serious. They were about to reach the peak of the mountain. The vibrations were getting stronger as they did so, and a picture slowly became clearer in his mind.
As they reached the top, they both saw an amazing sight. Sword Grandmaster Shang saw it with his eyes, while Skymender saw it through vibrations that the very thing they were looking at was causing.
In the distance, in the middle of these large mountains, was a forest that stretched out into the distance. Walking on it, eating the vast trees as if they were grass, was a bull taller than any building Skymender had ever seen. It was far wider than it was tall as well. It had two horns and fur that draped down its body. If turned into meat, it could feed the world, and if turned into blankets, it could stop any cold.
Every step it took shook its surroundings. Sword Grandmaster Shang saw this much better than Skymender, whose picture was still blurry, but both got the gist, and the sight caused them to stop moving for a while.
Finally, Sword Grandmaster Shang laughed. "How incredible. Killing this beast will be an honor."
Skymender couldn't help but agree. This beast put the mythical in mythical beast.
Sword Grandmaster Shang spoke again. "This seems like it will be easy."
"How so?" Skymender asked.
"It is just an oversized bull. It doesn't have many methods of attack other than stomp and ram. If we get on its back, there should be no issue at all."
Looking at it again, Skymender couldn't help but agree. With that logic, it did seem easy.
"No need to waste any time, let's finish this up and head home." Sword Grandmaster Shang said as he drew his sword and shot forward.
The bull was a bit away, and they had to go through the forest in order to reach it.
To the bull, this entire area was like a plain, which explained the description of its habitat, but to them, it was a very dense forest. They had to jump on top of trees and other plants just to move.
However, they soon reached the bull. Sword Grandmaster Shang and Skymender climbed up the bull using its lush hair. It never even noticed them until they were on its back. Sword Grandmaster Shang found where its spine was the most exposed and stood there holding his sword.
He spoke before attacking, as though this was an execution.
"You have never done anything to harm humanity, yet here we are. I promise your body will be used to the best of our ability. Hundreds of thousands will eat free, and just as many will be provided warmth. Your blood will be used in world changing research. You have not died pointlessly. I apologize for such a dishonorable death."
With this, he swung his sword down ten times in rapid succession. The bull roared, its voice creating a sound loud enough to travel a thousand miles away.
Sword Grandmaster Shang did not need any assistance whatsoever. Over the span of around five minutes, he cut through the bulls body and destroyed many of its bones and organs. It finally died, and when it fell over, it created a boom that caused a distant mountain to collapse. The others shook unsteadily. Skymender held on tightly, only surviving the dangerous fall due to the beast's fur, though he had anticipated this.
It was pitiful. Such a majestic beast died for no reason. This was different from when the Mountain Serpent was killed. This time, Skymender felt bad. He didn't even know if the bull ate meat or would attack humans at all.
He collected some of its blood, as well as a bit of its meat and bones.
"When we get back, the Emperor will send a bunch of people to collect its body. If you need more of it, you can get it then." Sword Grandmaster Shang said.
They headed back to the Empire and reported everything. Skymender had gone just in case, but as expected, it was completely unnecessary.
"The weakest of the nine has fallen." The Emperor said to Sword Grandmaster Shang once they were alone.
"The Mountain Serpent is dead, the Plains Bull has been killed, and the Mainland had killed the Wolf Emperor long ago. Only six remain." The Emperor continued.
"Should we attack another?" Sword Grandmaster Shang asked.
The Emperor shook his head. "Not yet. They may be mythical beasts, but they are also the deterrent that prevented the Mainland from taking over our continent. As long as the threat of them exists, we will be mostly safe. Besides, I'm afraid we aren't close to qualified yet."