The Bizarre Colossus

"Nine is the pinnacle of numbers. This beast has nine inches of gray mist above his head—he should be a martial arts expert at the limit of First Blood, probably only one step away from becoming a Second Blood powerhouse."

"Only, why would such a powerful man personally come to hunt me down?"

Yang Xiao's mouth went dry. His ears trembled madly as he set the Spirit Cicada Transformation in motion.

In an instant, inside the alley just beyond the wall, every rustle of wind and stir of grass was clearly "drawn" into Yang Xiao's mind.

Inside the alley.

A burly middle-aged man moved through it, wild winds rising wherever he went, terrifying to the extreme.

Yet when he stopped, he was motionless as a mountain, lofty and vast.

"Hall Master!"

Whoosh—

The three strong men bent and saluted one after another, their eyes filled with awe.

"To think the three of you are all Iron Skin, only one step from blood exchange, and I sent you to follow a piece of trash who isn't even Cowhide—yet you actually managed to lose him?"

Turning three heavy iron balls in his left hand, the middle-aged man grew angrier the more he spoke. He raised his right hand and delivered three slaps, smack smack smack, across the faces of the three strong men.

The three did not even dare breathe loudly. Each of them fell silent as cicadas in winter, shivering all over.

"Forget it. That boy is quite slippery. That he could discover you were following him ahead of time isn't that surprising."

The middle-aged man waved irritably and swept a glance around. His gaze soon landed on the large courtyard where Yang Xiao was hiding.

"Yang Xiao, I know you're nearby!"

"You think that just because you climbed over a wall and hid in this courtyard, I won't be able to find you?"

"Are you going to roll out yourself, or do I have to make a move personally?"

The middle-aged man's eyes were full of sharp ferocity.

All around, it was utterly silent, without the slightest response.

"Yang Xiao, you dared impersonate Zhang Long to fool Master, and borrowed Young Master Wang's power like a fox flaunting a tiger's might, giving Master a slap across the face."

"What, now you know fear?"

"Today, even if your silver tongue talks holes through the heavens, I, Song Qingshan, won't believe a single word. I'm going to chop you up no matter what!"

Song Qingshan's eyes were icy as he strode toward the vermilion gates of the large courtyard.

Behind the vermilion gates, inside the courtyard.

"Uncle Mute's disciple, Song Qingshan—the middle-aged odd-job worker who hauled swill at Vermilion Bird Tower—he's actually the public-facing hall master of the Peace Sect..."

Yang Xiao could not help giving a bitter smile.

Song Qingshan's strength was close to Second Blood; he already possessed the power to kill Yang Xiao in an instant.

Yet he had not been in a hurry to act. Instead, he had found people to tail him, preparing to secretly do Yang Xiao in.

This beast was no proper son of man. Truly hateful!

One step, two steps...

In but a moment, Song Qingshan's towering figure had already descended upon the main gate.

"Yang Xiao, since you refuse the toast only to drink the forfeit, and insist that I personally take action, then I'll grant your wish!"

Cruelty filled Song Qingshan's eyes as he suddenly kicked out.

Yet at that very instant.

An exceedingly terrifying aura abruptly erupted from the courtyard behind the gate.

So powerful was this aura that even the well-traveled Song Qingshan felt his eyelids twitch wildly and sensed the threat of death.

"Who is so bold as to dare call himself 'I, your father' before this old man?"

An aged, cold, and majestic voice suddenly rang out from within the courtyard.

Boom!

In an instant, Song Qingshan felt as if he had been struck by thunder, sweat beading on his forehead.

"This... this is impossible!"

"When Master was at his peak, he was only at the limit of Second Blood. Yet the strength of this person's aura surpasses Master's by far more than just a little?"

Song Qingshan's scalp went numb. A terrifying term suddenly surfaced in his mind—Third Blood!

First Blood made one a martial arts expert; Second Blood made one a martial arts powerhouse!

But only at Third Blood could one be called—a martial arts master!

A "master," as the name implied, could establish a sect and found a school, receive the reverence of others, and easily build a martial arts lineage that would be passed down for a hundred years!

Even those unfathomable enshrined experts holding down the Great Yan Imperial Palace were merely at the Third Blood realm!

Every Third Blood master, without exception, was a name that had once resounded far and wide, familiar to every ear!

Such a terrifying powerhouse was actually living in seclusion here?

"No. Yang Xiao, that brat, is far too slippery. Could this be a trick?"

After his shock faded, Song Qingshan suddenly felt somewhat doubtful.

Bang!

The main gate suddenly opened.

A hunchbacked old man with his hands clasped behind his back slowly walked out of the courtyard.

The moment his eyes met the old man's, Song Qingshan's legs began to tremble, and every trace of doubt vanished from his heart.

The hunchbacked old man's gaze was deep and weathered, and the aura in his every movement was utterly terrifying. This was simply impossible to fake.

This was actually a three-blood martial grandmaster!

"Junior Song Qingshan greets you, Sen—"

Smack!

Before Song Qingshan could finish speaking, his vision blurred, and his face had already taken a solid slap.

"Senior, your hand is precious. If it got dirtied from hitting me, that would hardly be good. Why not let this junior do it himself?"

Smack!

Song Qingshan's face piled into a smile as he raised his hand and gave himself a great ringing slap.

The hunchbacked old man stood with his hands behind his back, watching him coldly without saying a word.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Song Qingshan did not say a single useless word and continued slapping himself without the slightest hesitation.

Every slap used all his strength. He did not dare hold back at all!

The hunchbacked old man still did not speak, his aged eyes filled with a chill gloom.

Song Qingshan felt aggrieved and terrified, but he could only obediently keep slapping himself, not daring to stop for even a moment.

Gradually, Song Qingshan's face was covered in blood. His head swam, his vision blurred, and even his consciousness began to grow hazy.

"On account of you being that little child Mo Renxiao's disciple, this old man will spare you this once. Scram!"

Only then did the hunchbacked old man's icy voice slowly ring out.

"Many thanks, Senior, for sparing my life. This junior will scram right away, scram right away."

As if granted a great pardon, Song Qingshan did not dare say a single useless word. He turned and bolted.

"Wait!"

The hunchbacked old man's icy voice suddenly rang out again.

"S-Senior?"

Song Qingshan's heart was filled with terror. His legs trembled, and even his tone was shaking.

"This old man lives in seclusion here and does not wish for the news to leak. Unless you swear a blood oath and submit to this old man, otherwise..."

A few traces of sinister cold gradually entered the hunchbacked old man's tone.

Song Qingshan hesitated for a moment, a flash of hatred passing through his eyes. Then he suddenly drew his blade, cut open his own thumb, pointed two fingers at the sky, and declared:

"Yellow Heaven above, I, Song Qingshan, am willing to honor Senior as my master. If I dare defy Senior's orders, may I, Song Qingshan, be struck by heaven's thunder and die a wretched death!"

The moment his words fell.

An unprecedentedly terrifying aura suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

The hunchbacked old man Yang Xiao had disguised himself as with the Thousand Illusion Dagger instantly "saw" an enormous phantom of a giant beast suddenly envelop the entire void.

Yang Xiao's eyelids twitched wildly, and in that instant, he sensed a mortal crisis.

Run!

Yang Xiao instinctively wanted to flee, but he discovered to his horror that his entire body could not move at all, as if he had been frozen in place.

In the void, the giant beast phantom whose appearance was impossible to make out suddenly inhaled.

At once, the bloodstain on Song Qingshan's thumb vanished eerily in an instant.

At this point, the blood oath was complete!

The endless black shadow scattered in an instant, and brilliant sunlight once again filled the sky.

Yang Xiao keenly sensed that he had regained his freedom.

The giant beast phantom that had nearly suffocated him was also completely gone without a trace.

"The Peace Sect really is uncanny. Once this 'blood oath' is sworn, even a grandmaster cannot violate it. Otherwise, he will suffer the blood oath's backlash."

"That giant beast phantom just now... what exactly was it?"

Yang Xiao's scalp went numb. He only felt that the waters of the Peace Sect were probably deeper than he had imagined.

At the same time.

Yang Xiao suddenly stiffened all over, a trace of horror flashing through his eyes.

At this moment.

Inside Yang Xiao's dantian.

At some unknown point, a miniature giant beast phantom had actually appeared...