Two “Zodiacs” collided head-on under the watchful eyes of Chu Tianqiu and Qin Dingdong.

The sound was thunderous, like a car crash. Earth-Mouse’s build was nowhere near as imposing as Earth-Ox’s. After just a few collisions, he began retreating step by step.

Chu Tianqiu knew that, as both of them had said, it was difficult to determine who was right or wrong when viewing this matter from their respective positions. But neither of them would yield even an inch.

He just never imagined that the seemingly indecisive Earth-Mouse would actually fight Earth-Ox head-on without a word at this moment, as if his bottom line had been trampled.

“What ‘cat catching a mouse’…” Earth-Ox gritted his teeth, pressing his hand against Earth-Mouse’s fist as he spoke. “Aren’t you just a dog with a collar… Now you’ve forgotten to wear your collar and come out biting people?”

“Ha…” Earth-Mouse sneered coldly. “Between the two of us, it’s really hard to say… who exactly is that ‘dog with a collar.'”

Seeing the two fighting viciously with fists meeting flesh, Zhang Shan turned to look at Chu Tianqiu. “What do we say… Do we help or take the chance to leave?”

Chu Tianqiu was about to issue an order after hearing this, but after his lips moved slightly, he shook his head. “‘Heavenly Movement’ is yours. Do what you think is right.”

“The right thing?” Zhang Shan paused, then broke into a smile. “Do you even need to ask? We were walking down the road minding our own business when this big guy suddenly charged out looking for a fight. Damn right I’m fighting back—not doing so would be way too frustrating.”

“Good.” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Then I’ll wait for you on the side.”

Zhang Shan immediately stepped forward. While the two “Zodiacs” were grappling, he entered the battlefield as if no one else was there. At that moment, the two were exchanging punches, with Earth-Mouse being constantly forced into a corner by Earth-Ox.

Zhang Shan didn’t care about anything else and came up behind Earth-Ox, reaching out to grab his collar.

Earth-Ox only felt his neck tighten and his center of gravity shift—someone had actually lifted him off the ground.

Before he could react, his back hit the ground, and he was slammed down heavily.

This fall left Earth-Ox somewhat dazed. Even among “Earth-level” beings, there weren’t many who could lift him up and throw him to the ground.

Earth-Ox lay on the ground, looking at Zhang Shan in disbelief. Although he had seen Zhang Shan many times, he never remembered this person having an “Echo.”

Was this reasonable? Could “beating a bear to death” be something that could be done without activating an “Echo”?

Zhang Shan, through this attack, also understood the true worth of his “Heavenly Movement.” With this body, he might really be able to clash head-on with “Earth-level” beings.

The only thing he needed to consider was that his “Heavenly Movement” didn’t last long. He had to fight quickly and decisively, or else there would be endless troubles.

“You…”

Earth-Ox slowly got up from the ground. Just as he was about to say something, Zhang Shan clearly wasn’t giving him the chance. He stretched out a foot and kicked toward Earth-Ox’s chest, then pounced on him without another word.

Although the attacks seemed to have no pattern, Earth-Ox felt each punch carried lethal force. He could only desperately defend himself on the ground.

Earth-Mouse watched from the side, stunned. Although he sensed this “Participant” giant might have something unreasonable like “Brute Strength” or “Divine Power,” he never imagined he would be riding on top of Earth-Ox and beating him.

Zhang Shan pinned down Earth-Ox, his hands continuously hammering toward his opponent’s head, like he was pinning down a bear that couldn’t move.

This might be the first time in his memory that he completely unleashed his strength without suppression, attacking someone with nearly every blow being lethal. After all, this big guy had an enhanced physical body—even this kind of attack might not necessarily work.

Earth-Ox curled his hands up to protect both sides of his head, but felt each punch falling like a meteorite. His flesh could barely withstand it, but the floor behind his head had already been shattered by the impact.

Zhang Shan’s fighting experience was exceptionally rich. He continuously attacked both sides of his opponent’s face in a “left-right-left-right” rhythm. Just when his opponent was beginning to adapt to defending according to the “left-right” rhythm, Zhang Shan suddenly gathered his strength and delivered an uppercut from below, striking his opponent’s chin.

This was a common attack pattern in combat used to break habitual defense. This punch not only left Earth-Ox’s body unable to react in time, but even his mind was completely unprepared.

His massive body was knocked flying by Zhang Shan from beneath him, sliding across the wooden floor and leaving a long trail. Due to the excessive force, after sliding for a while without stopping, Earth-Ox rolled several more times in the corridor before finally becoming still.

Earth-Mouse stared at this scene for a long time before slowly walking forward and asking Zhang Shan, “Boss, is this what you call ‘rolling away’?”

Zhang Shan shook his right hand, which was throbbing with pain from the impact, then stood up and walked forward step by step. His “Heavenly Movement” was still active—he had to beat his opponent until he completely lost his ability to fight.

The reason he had succeeded just now was largely because he had seized the initiative. Although both sides were similar in build and strength, this was a common situation on fighting stages. Once one side gained the upper hand, they could very likely maintain pressure on the opponent from start to finish.

In evenly matched battles, what was needed was more strategy, more cunning, and more ruthlessness than the opponent.

The “Zodiacs” on both sides of the corridor were all watching this battlefield in the center. The “Human-level” beings were already intimidated by Zhang Shan’s momentum, while those “Earth-level” beings had their own thoughts. They either crossed their arms over their chests or leaned against door frames, each with different expressions. The one thing they had in common was that no one intervened—they just quietly watched this scene unfold.

As Zhang Shan walked, he raised his head to look at a distant location, where another figure seemed to be pinning a “Zodiac” to the ground and beating them.

He squinted to verify carefully—it appeared to be a white-furred large tiger violently beating another “Zodiac.”

The large tiger seemed tired from fighting as well. It raised its head to look in Zhang Shan’s direction. The two were too far apart to see each other’s expressions clearly.

Zhang Shan came back to his senses, lowered his head, and looked again at Earth-Ox in front of him. His mouth was full of blood, and now his eyes were beginning to lose focus.

“Can’t stop yet…” Zhang Shan thought to himself.

Then he bent down and once again ruthlessly hammered down a fist toward his opponent’s skull. The nearby “Zodiacs” could even hear the sound of this punch breaking through the air, yet still no one stepped forward to stop it.

A “Participant” killing a “Zodiac”—as long as it wasn’t themselves being killed, who would risk their life for someone else’s suffering?

This was the “Land of the End.” To climb upward here, the only thing one could do was step on other people’s corpses.

Those who couldn’t understand this principle could never become a “Zodiac” in the first place.

The floor beneath Earth-Ox’s brain cracked open, and his head was being hammered into the ground punch by punch.

Chu Tianqiu saw this and walked forward, reaching out to grab Zhang Shan’s arm.

“Zhang Shan, he’s lost consciousness,” Chu Tianqiu reminded softly.

Zhang Shan stopped his hand expressionlessly and found that his right hand was covered in blood.

“That’s enough,” Chu Tianqiu said. “He can’t stand up anymore.”

Zhang Shan paused for a long time, only feeling that something was off with his brain. Under the effect of “Deep Echo,” memories that shouldn’t have appeared were now flooding into his mind.