Killing with a Borrowed Knife, Crossing the Sea Under Camouflage

Ji Xuan was drenched in blood, splattered with golden liquid.

He wiped a bead of blood sliding from the corner of his eye, his expression darkening to the extreme.

A dying man startled into sitting up, only to find the clown was me all along!

He had not expected that beyond the ploy of borrowing a knife to kill, there was another move to deceive the heavens and cross the sea.

Guard against everything, but it is hardest to guard against the thief within one's own house.

The seven people including Zhou Yuan, who had joined the alliance camp through different paths and identities while claiming to be strangers to one another, were all "moles" planted by Mu Chen.

Ji Xuan, who had been delighted by their talent, had even made all sorts of promises to win them over.

Thinking of it now, it was a silent irony.

Meanwhile, Mu Chen took out a spirit beast essence soul about the size of a fist, brimming with spiritual energy, within which a miniature golden beast floated. He threw it with all his might toward the mountain peak.

Bang! The spirit beast essence soul struck a massive creature with precision and exploded.

"Roar!"

The giant beast, which had been lying on a large blue boulder, was slightly startled before it raised its head and let out a mournful cry.

It was massive, like a small hill, its body covered in palm-sized golden scales that shimmered and glowed brilliantly under the sunlight, looking exceptionally magnificent.

On its head stood a pair of dragon horns, yet it possessed the head of a tiger. Its limbs were thick and powerful, with sturdy, sharp claws extending from its fingertips, resembling those of a tiger.

A high-level spirit beast, the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast!

The adult Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast, having caught the scent of its offspring, was overcome with grief. After a roar of fury, it leaped off the boulder and charged straight toward the mountainside.

Shining with golden light, it uprooted trees and shattered rocks as it came, its momentum overwhelming.

From afar, it looked like a war fortress moving at high speed.

A high-level spirit beast capable of fighting a human Spirit Soul realm martial artist—once it began its charge, even before it drew near, its tragic killing intent enveloped the world like an inescapable net.

"Oh no, the beast lord sleeping on the peak has awakened!"

"It really is a Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast! It's Mu Chen's conspiracy, run!"

The alliance lineup was composed of various factions; its personnel were complex and their quality uneven. They could only fight when things were going their way, and they possessed absolutely no courage to turn the tide in a losing battle.

Once the overlord of the high-level spirit beasts awoke, no one had the heart to continue surrounding the Black and White Duo. They scrambled toward the foot of the mountain, crowding together in a chaotic mess.

Mu Chen pulled Luo Li and his companions into the dense forest.

The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast would naturally go into a frenzy upon smelling the blood of its cub, madly hunting down the alliance members stained with its offspring's essence blood.

But do not forget, Luo Li was the "true culprit" who had murdered its cub.

It would be bad if they were caught in the crossfire; caution was a necessity.

"Don't move! No one is allowed to leave! Everyone stay where you are!"

Ji Xuan barked orders at his right-hand men, struggling to maintain the situation, even summoning his spirit soldiers to cut down several unlucky souls who dared to flee.

With over a hundred people squeezed into such a narrow space, trampling over one another, it was a dead end; order had to be maintained first.

"Ji Xuan, if you have any trump cards, bring them out now!"

Yang Hong and Qiu Beihai looked flustered, urging him with anxious tones.

If not for their habitual trust in Ji Xuan, the two of them, who were equally terrified, would have long since abandoned their subordinates to save their own skins, rather than maintaining any damn order.

That was a high-level spirit beast, brother!

If you took a hundred Sensing Realm martial artists and one Spirit Soul realm martial artist, sealed their spiritual power, and threw them into a sealed space, who do you think would walk out in the end?

The massive chasm between the two sides could not be bridged by mere numbers.

"What are you panicking about? When have I ever lied to you two?"

Ji Xuan, his face deathly pale, swallowed hard and replied with rapid speech.

Don't let his calm exterior fool you; deep down, he was panicking too.

A Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast was charging at you—who could withstand that!

"Ji will never let his friends down. Just watch my methods!"

Putting on a brave face, Ji Xuan took a deep breath. Clad in a white robe with a heavy expression, he walked to the front under the gaze of many panicked eyes.

Facing the beast overlord all alone, his back carried a strange sense of tragic heroism.

"Screech!"

Suddenly, an ancient and sharp eagle cry resounded through the heavens and earth.

This eagle cry was exceptionally old and weathered, wild and ancient.

Beneath its sharp, piercing tone lay an indescribable sense of ferocity, as if an archaic beast sleeping in the abyss of darkness was awakening to take control of the world's authority.

At the same time, bang, bang, bang—visible ripples of sound waves radiated from Ji Xuan toward the surrounding world at high speed, causing even the air to show signs of slight distortion.

"Awoo!"

The beast overlord, charging halfway, suddenly froze its massive body as if locked onto by a natural predator from the spirit beast realm or a member of a supreme race, letting out a mournful cry.

It prostrated itself on the ground, eyes filled with terror, not daring to move a muscle.

In the end, the instinct for survival overcame the rage of avenging its offspring. The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast hesitated for less than half a breath before turning and fleeing without hesitation, vanishing into the mountain forest.

In the span of a mere few breaths, that flash of golden light had vanished from the mountain range.

"Huu~"

Having finished all this, Ji Xuan let out a long, ragged breath.

His face was devoid of color, pale as paper, and his tall frame swayed, nearly collapsing from weakness until Yang Hong, quick-witted, reached out to steady him.

Clearly, unleashing his strongest trump card had not been easy for Ji Xuan.

"That majestic sense of power... the supreme might of a Sovereign."

He touched his abdomen, his gaze growing increasingly profound.

"Brother Ji, you really are something!"

Yang Hong and Qiu Beihai waved their fists, looking incredibly pleased.

The two of them were now completely won over by this prodigy from a great clan in the Southern Border.

If Ji Xuan were to issue a recruitment call now, even if they wouldn't immediately bow in total submission, he would certainly achieve twice the result with half the effort, instantly gaining a large group of loyal followers.

Boom. After a moment of deathly silence on the field, a mountain-toppling cheer erupted.

The survivors of the alliance shouted the name of "King Xuan" time and again.

Ji Xuan calmly swallowed several medicinal pills, a hint of color returning to his face.

As he listened to the flattery of his followers, he adjusted his breathing, his expression growing increasingly smug.

I, Ji Xuan, am the true Child of Destiny.

Turning danger into safety and defying the heavens to change my fate—it is all within my grasp!

"Clap, clap, clap."

Just as Ji Xuan's followers were cheering, crisp applause rang out.

Mu Chen and his companions, unscathed, walked out of the dense forest.

"What a truly spectacular performance. Brother Ji, you really live up to your reputation."

Mu Chen clapped his hands, his face showing a look of approval.

That power just now... it was the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle, right?

The Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle, ranked even higher than the Nine Nether Sparrow on the Record of Ten Thousand Beasts, looked like an eagle yet not an eagle, a dragon yet not a dragon. With terrifying combat power, it was a rare ancient exotic species.

In daily life, it preyed upon powerful spirit beasts possessing dragon bloodlines, capable of hunting giant pythons, fierce flood dragons, and ancient horned dragons. This race held no small reputation in the Great Thousand World.

The Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast possessed a faint, almost imperceptible trace of dragon bloodline within its body.

This was precisely why a single screech from the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle could deter a high-level spirit beast, causing it to tremble as if encountering a natural predator and flee the moment it turned.