Several days later.
With a deafening rumble, a vast phantom of mountains and rivers appeared outside Broken Void City, shining with ten thousand rays of light as chaotic qi billowed through the air.
"The Baiduan Mountain Secret Realm has opened! Move!"
"Charge in! The sacred medicines and divine treasures are all mine!"
"I'll reign supreme in this little world..."
On the four walls of the city, the Eight Directions' young prodigies had long been ready to go. Each displayed their abilities, swarming into the phantom in a dark mass like locusts crossing the land.
In an instant, the radiance of precious techniques, divine abilities, and secret powers shrouded the heavens.
"We should go, too."
"Mm. Brother Shi Hao, be careful."
Inside a luxurious estate in the city, the nine youths from Stone Village exchanged glances, summoned their respective treasures, and plunged into the crowd, rushing into the phantom of mountains and rivers.
That's right: Shi Hao and the other eight youths from Stone Village were acting separately.
Shi Qingfeng, Pihou, and the others had said that staying with a monster like him meant they'd never get the chance to fight. They might as well split up and meet again if they needed to.
Shi Hao considered that all eight of them were Cave Heaven Realm cultivators, each proficient in at least several precious techniques of pureblood creatures. With a lineup like that, they might not sweep through the secret realm, but they could certainly protect themselves.
Besides, the Hundred Broken Mountains' small world was vast beyond measure. It could roughly be divided into seven or eight regions, including the Heaven Bone Forbidden Zone, the Hundred Herb Garden, Treasure Dividing Cliff, the Boundless Desert, the Wild Wolf Plain, and the Divine Monkey Treasure Land. They wouldn't run into peerless young prodigies so easily.
The stars shifted, and the scene abruptly changed.
Shi Hao soon realized that he was standing beside a vast azure lake. Its waters were crystal clear, and wisps of spiritual energy drifted upward.
In the distance stood towering, rugged mountains, while the roars of beasts shook the heavens.
"The essence of heaven and earth here is several times denser than in the outside world. It's almost as rich as Stone Village, steeped in True Dragon qi. What a pity I can't stay long."
Shi Hao drew a deep breath, feeling cool spiritual energy roll toward him.
"Lowly human, are you the human prodigy who slew Feiyi that day?"
A tiger's roar rang out, laced with the murderous clang of metal.
"Hmm? I've run into a prodigy from another race so soon?"
Shi Hao looked toward the sound. Beside the azure lake stood a magnificent carriage.
A vicious-eyed white tiger sat inside. On either side, two beautiful human girls fed it fresh meat. A powerful human sat at the front as its coachman, while formidable guards followed behind.
An old man stood beside the carriage, holding a scroll. The white tiger glanced at the figure on the scroll, then looked at Shi Hao with scorn, as if comparing the two.
"Oh, this is interesting. You know I killed Feiyi and still dare to provoke me? White-skinned big cat, I have to say, you've got a good eye."
After recognizing who he was facing, Shi Hao broke into a grin.
"Presumptuous! My young master hails from Xiling Beast Mountain and is a prodigy of the White Tiger bloodline. His elder is one of the great powers who rule Xiling Beast Mountain. Get over here and pay your respects to my young master, or you'll bring ruin upon yourself!"
The old man holding the scroll acted as though he'd suffered some appalling humiliation. He flew into a rage, his face dark with fury as he barked at Shi Hao.
Xiling Beast Mountain, also known as Xiling Beast Garden, had once been a burial ground for the mightiest of the ancient ferocious beasts. Later, great numbers of Ancient Relics had gathered there of their own accord, keeping watch over the graves of those mighty beings from generation to generation. Its influence had grown ever greater.
As time passed, Xiling Beast Mountain had become a renowned sacred land.
"Chatterbox."
Little Shi knitted his brows. A thunderous boom rang out, and a golden bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket crashed down, reducing the old man, who had opened seven Grotto-Heavens, to ashes in an instant.
"Suanni King's precious technique?"
His subordinate had been slain with a single word. Even the White Tiger, arrogant as he was, could no longer sit still. He shoved aside the human maid who had been feeding him fresh meat, baring his savage fangs.
"Not bad. Though you're a white-skinned big cat with a lame leg who needs people to carry you everywhere, your eyes aren't blind. There may yet be hope for you."
Shi Hao's lips curved in a warm smile as he nodded with satisfaction.
"Lowly human, don't think that getting the better of Feiyi by ambush means you can look down on everyone of this generation. I'll need no more than three moves to kill you."
As a prodigy of Xiling Beast Mountain, the White Tiger had never endured such cutting mockery. He sprang to his feet and roared in fury.
"I am no lowly human. My ancestors were ennobled as kings in the Border Wasteland, blessed by heaven and earth, and passed down glory beyond measure."
"Your Xiling Beast Mountain bloodline, on the other hand, is nothing but a bunch of lackeys guarding the graves of ancient ferocious beasts. You've spent so long outside those graves that you've started thinking you're like the gods resting within—true Heaven-Tier ancient great beasts yourselves."
"Put plainly, aren't you just a bunch of lowborn gravediggers? You can't even enter the tombs, so what's got you so puffed up?"
As he spoke, Shi Hao couldn't help laughing.
Those idiots from Xiling Beast Mountain were like doorkeepers in a noble household. They borrowed their masters' authority to throw their weight around, and after long enough, they started to think they were nobles themselves.
But was it really a lowly servant whom people feared?
Shi Hao's words were the height of mockery, baring the truth for all to see. It was as if he'd dug up the White Tiger's ancestors' graves. The White Tiger went completely berserk.
"Roar! Human, I'll swallow you whole!"
The White Tiger stepped forward with the Eight Trigrams Steps and pounced at Shi Hao. It opened its jaws, spitting out a vast sea of runes brimming with the murderous clang of metal, which surged forward and tore through the Void.
The White Tiger was a divine beast of the West, master of slaughter.
"Roar!"
At the same time, another tiger's roar shook the heavens. A soul-piercing divine sound poured down from all directions, reaching straight into the mind.
It was a sound-killing technique that attacked the soul. It was no easy technique to defend against.
"A sound-killing technique? I know one, too. True Dragon Roar!"
Shi Hao pressed his palms together. A phantom True Dragon coiled around him, radiating boundless majesty as it lifted its head and roared. It smashed through the White Tiger's sound-killing technique like dry weeds before a gale.
"Dragon Drawing Hand!"
The lifelike True Dragon shone with light. A massive dragon claw covered in golden scales reached out and crashed down, as if to split open the heavens.
"Boom!"
The golden dragon claw, radiating pure True Dragon qi, tore through the sea of runes and slammed into the White Tiger's chest. But silver runes flared, forming a layer of silver armor.
The White Tiger Battle Armor was a powerful defensive treasure, forged from the remains of a great expert of the White Tiger bloodline. Its divine might was astonishing, and no one had ever managed to break it.
The silver armor blazed with brilliant light more dazzling than ever, absorbing most of the force. Even so, the White Tiger, caught off guard, still coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
"True Dragon Precious Technique?!"
The White Tiger crashed heavily into the lake. Ignoring its injuries, it let out a shrill cry of disbelief, its expression twisted with utter horror.
The True Dragon was hailed as the mightiest of beings, and the True Dragon Precious Technique represented the pinnacle of the Dao.
"No, that's impossible! The True Dragon Precious Technique was lost in the ancient era. That must just be some move you picked up somewhere—a mere move, nothing more!"
The White Tiger, drenched in blood, leapt up from the lakebed, desperately trying to reassure himself.
"Mm, if you say so."
Looking at the frightened little white tiger in front of him, Shi Hao smiled radiantly.
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