The area where Bai Yixin was had two passages leading outside, to another region.
After eating their fill and resting for a day, Bai Yixin and Little One parted ways with Huo Ling'er and the others. They made a verbal agreement to meet again next time—and for them to remember to pay their debt.
"Brother Little White, do you want this string of golden prayer beads, or these nine fangs?" Little One took out the two treasures they had seized from the Nine-Headed Lion and asked.
"This string of golden prayer beads should have been carefully polished from the golden bones of a great elder of the Nine-Headed Lion clan after his death. It seems to contain the terrifying power of the Runes and laws passed down through their lineage." Bai Yixin took the beads and examined them closely as he spoke.
"Then I'll take these nine fangs. They can transform into nine sharp swords, and they'll still be useful in my hands."
"Fine." Little One handed the nine golden fangs to Bai Yixin, then put the string of golden prayer beads back into his Heavenly Cave.
This was a set of powerful treasures with two forms. One was the usual lion's fangs; the other transformed them into a series of sharp swords. They gleamed brilliantly in Bai Yixin's palm, like tiny suns.
Clearly, these nine flying swords had been refined from the Golden Lion's teeth and passed down by the elders of the Nine-Headed Golden Lion.
Bai Yixin could use them to perform sword formations.
Mist shrouded the way ahead. They had reached the end of this region, where a glowing passage led to another region.
"Whoosh!"
Little One raised the crystal-clear Bone Mirror in his hand and shone it toward the distance. The mountains and forests trembled, lightning flashed, and a group of creatures was startled into view, including several extremely powerful ones.
"I'd like to ask you something. Is there anything unusual about the exit ahead?"
Bai Yixin asked casually. Given Bear Child's reputation, many major powers had publicly declared that they wanted to capture Little One. To avoid being caught off guard by an ambush at the passage, he had decided to ask in advance.
"Recently, some people have been coming and going. They're waiting for something, setting up something at the other end of the passage." A ferocious beast, feeling the immense weight pressing down on its back, answered in a trembling voice.
"Brother Little White, there's an ambush!" Little One exclaimed, realizing that the group might be waiting for him.
"It's fine. We can take the other route." Bai Yixin considered it. There was no way only one of the two passages was being watched. Since they knew nothing about this one, he preferred to take the other passage and see what the Rain Clan was up to.
With the Luan Bird Method's incredible speed, Bai Yixin and Little One became two streaks of azure light, racing across the sky and startling countless creatures.
But none dared to stop them, because everyone who had dared to attack had ended up in Bai Yixin and Little One's bellies.
The other passage lay ahead, misty with vapor and speckled with rosy light. Behind it stretched what seemed like a vast marshland. No creatures roamed here, because the place was extremely remote.
Bai Yixin and Little One charged straight through, crossed the golden passage, and left their previous region behind.
A light rain fell, and mist swirled all around.
Bai Yixin and the others had just arrived. They felt that the Spiritual Energy in this region was incredibly dense, but the dampness made them rather uncomfortable. They weren't used to it.
They traveled dozens of miles deeper. The rain kept falling, and mist shrouded the entire world. The land was dotted with lakes and rivers, making it look like a vast marshland.
"Little One, be careful."
Suddenly, Bai Yixin stopped in front of a stretch of mountains and threw a ferocious beast that had blocked their way not long before toward the area ahead.
Little One couldn't make sense of what Bai Yixin was doing. He was just about to ask when—
Suddenly, as if they had triggered some kind of mechanism, Runes flashed and streams of divine light crisscrossed like sharp swords, slashing toward the beast Bai Yixin had thrown.
It was a Rune formation. The beast had been tossed into it, activating the ancient formation and turning the area into a land of calamity. Streaks of divine light swept across, razing the mountains and forest to the ground.
"What a powerful formation! Good thing we didn't go in." Little One's expression turned serious.
"Come on, Little One. Let's see who's lying in wait for us." Bai Yixin led Little One around the area, moving stealthily through the trees.
At last, not far from the area, Bai Yixin and Little One crept close to the ambushers.
There were ten youths. Every one of them looked extraordinary; they were young powerhouses.
"Let's take out a few first." Bai Yixin and Little One exchanged a glance and signaled to each other.
Little One nodded. Like Bai Yixin, he used the curtain of rain to cover the sound of his footsteps, became a shadow, and crept up behind one of them.
"Crack!"
A faint sound rang out. It wasn't loud, but it still caught the others' attention.
"Who's there?!"
One man shouted, turning toward the sound. He saw one of his companions with his neck in someone's grip, choked to death.
"Heh. This is just returning the favor. You set up a formation to ambush us, after all." Bai Yixin dropped the corpse, its neck crushed into a thin stalk. His eyes held not a trace of warmth.
On Little One's side, the Suanni Treasure Mirror unleashed lightning that pierced one man's chest and charred him to a crisp.
The eight men left on the other side gathered together, their faces cold. They came from the Rain Clan. A fine rain fell over them, and their auras surged with power, each one growing stronger.
Clouds and mist surged as if they were about to press down on the ground, and the rain grew heavier.
Bai Yixin could tell at a glance that this wasn't a natural phenomenon. The downpour was happening because those eight men were standing there.
Bai Yixin roughly guessed who they were. It was said that the Rain Clan's divine power increased tremendously when they bathed in heavy rain.
"Kill!"
Bai Yixin immediately brought out the nine golden fangs. They transformed into nine golden swords, and he prepared to kill with a single strike.
Little One recognized them too. His expression turned ice-cold as he raised his treasured mirror and sent countless streaks of brilliant golden lightning toward them.
The eight men's expressions changed. As members of the Rain Clan, they were well-informed. They could tell that both the nine golden fangs and the Bone Mirror were powerful treasures!
"Attack!" one of them shouted.
The men were few in number, but all of them were decisive. In an instant, rosy light blazed around each of them, growing more and more intense until it sounded like a roaring sea.
With a thunderous crash, all eight moved at once. Wave after wave of blue water surged toward them, drowning the entire mountainside. The Rain Clan were born with an affinity for the power of water.
Heavy rain poured from the sky, endlessly providing them with energy. In that instant, the eight joined their power with heaven and earth. Their energy surged like a sea, Runes packed together as wave after wave rolled forward.
This wasn't real water, but waves woven from Runes. An endless expanse of them blotted out the sky, an astonishing and terrifying sight.
"Boom!"
Not far away, a low mountain was swallowed by the waves. Its peak broke off and came crashing down. Rocks rumbled, ancient trees snapped, and everything shattered in an instant.
This was a terrifying Treasure Technique. With the eight combining their Runes, the power they unleashed was far more than the sum of eight people; it was as if twenty or thirty people were attacking. It was horrifying!
"Heaven-Reaching Earth-Moving!" the eight shouted.
At that moment, torrential rain fell from the sky, while floodwater boiled below, turning the area into a vast marshland. Runes filled the boundless expanse, surging toward them.
Even the great lake nearby had been drawn into it, its waters crashing forward like an angry sea.
Runes gathered and flashed with brilliant light, bearing down with the might of heaven and earth.
A muffled roar like a tsunami thundered out. Towering waves crashed as countless Runes piled upon each other, forming a Source of Destruction that threatened to swallow Bai Yixin and Little One whole.
"Damn!"
The nine golden swords rose, their keen sword auras able to cleave through anything. They split the raging waves rushing toward them and pierced the curtain of rain, leaving nine gaping holes.
"Ah...!"
In an instant, seven men screamed. Their upper and lower bodies separated. It was clear that their necks had been severed or their chests split open by sword strokes.
Only one lucky man, standing at the rear, survived.
But he survived for just one more instant. The lightning that followed danced through the water, sending the lucky man flying. His whole body was charred black, wisps of smoke rising from him as he lay motionless in the rainwater.
"Little One, let's check the other passage. I bet the Rain Clan has people lying in wait there too." Bai Yixin's expression didn't change. He had no goodwill toward the Rain Clan.
"Fine. Let's fight our way through." Little One nodded. The Rain Clan were his enemies.
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