Must have been too badly injured, my vision's blurred...

"You... how did you..." Duan Shuai stared at Barros in utter horror. Soaring Cloud Cave was riddled with mechanisms and fraught with peril, with the Fire Qilin patrolling it day and night—how had a youth clad in strange armor and wearing peculiar lenses broken in? (To ancient people, Saiyan armor and a combat power detector were far more than merely strange!)

For a mere youth to enter the near-deathly Soaring Cloud Cave without a scratch was already shocking enough;

yet he had appeared right behind the Fire Qilin and Nie Renwang, sending monstrous waves crashing through Duan Shuai's heart!

At that moment, the Fire Qilin raised its head and roared furiously. Its bloody maw opened wide, blasting a blazing fireball wrapped in searing wind straight at Barros's face!

"Hmph!" Barros snorted and raised a hand, closing it into a fist—the scorching fireball that had made both Nie Renwang and Duan Shuai blanch actually vanished soundlessly in his palm!

Sparks scattered in every direction, blasting mottled craters into the rock walls.

Barros moved again, pressing down with spread fingers. Before the Fire Qilin could pounce once more, he had already pinned it firmly to the ground, leaving it unable to move.

The disparity in strength was so immense that even the Fire Qilin, whose might had shaken the martial world, was like a paper-and-clay toy beneath his hand, unable even to dream of struggling free.

He looked around and saw nowhere to sit, so he simply ignored the blazing flames and blistering heat rising from the Fire Qilin's body and plopped down on its back.

"Gulp!" Nie Renwang and Duan Shuai swallowed at the same time, forcing down dry mouthfuls of saliva.

The flames were so hot that even several paces away, the two felt as though they stood before a furnace. Nie Renwang had previously exerted all his power to resist them, yet his flesh had still split and blistered from the burns;

but Barros's expression remained unchanged as he sat peacefully amid the roaring flames, as though seated on an ordinary stone bench.

Though they did not know whether he was friend or foe, Nie Renwang and Duan Shuai now looked at him with incredulous admiration and shock!

Naturally, Barros took in those looks.

But no matter how hot the "blazing beast" beneath him was, how could it compare to the churning magma in a planet's core?

Barros had already cultivated the Dragon Elephant Prison-Suppressing Art to the realm where all seventy-two Earthly Fiend acupoints were open. Rolling around in magma would feel like a spring breeze to him, let alone the Fire Qilin's seemingly ferocious flames, which did not even possess one-thousandth the heat of magma.

Seated upon the Fire Qilin's steaming, scorching back, he swept his gaze over Duan Shuai like an icy blade. His voice was low and frigid. "Duan Shuai. You have lingered here for many years. Bring the Dragon Vein to This Emperor!"

"The... the Dragon Vein? You really came for the Dragon Vein!" Duan Shuai's face instantly turned deathly pale. His heart shook violently, then true qi surged through him as his entire body tensed. He knew he was no match for Barros, but this concerned the lifeline of Shenzhou. Even if his blood spilled here today, he would never surrender it willingly!

Seeing Duan Shuai treat him like a great enemy and refuse to yield even an inch, Barros curled his lips in disdain. "Within this Soaring Cloud Cave, apart from the Fire Qilin beneath This Emperor and that Dragon Vein, what else is worthy of entering This Emperor's sight?"

Though he said so, an unusual glint quietly flashed through his eyes.

Soaring Cloud Cave was filled with treasures. Beyond the Fire Qilin and the Dragon Vein, two other things had piqued his interest: the Ten Supreme Martial Arts inscription left behind by Wu Wudi, and the Blood Bodhi.

The Blood Bodhi was useless to him; it was merely a novelty.

The Ten Supreme Martial Arts, however, truly caught his attention.

After hearing this, Duan Shuai's expression grew even graver, and he finally recalled a detail he had overlooked earlier due to the shock of the Dragon Vein—

"'This Emperor'? You actually refer to yourself as 'This Emperor'? Could you be the ruler of some foreign tribe beyond Shenzhou's borders?" His eyes burned as he stared fixedly at Barros. He had already made up his mind: if this man truly was some barbarian chieftain from Dongying or Goryeo, he would rather destroy the Dragon Vein and take his own life than let it fall into that man's hands!

He had no idea that this probing question instantly ignited Barros's fury.

Though Barros had been reborn in a Saiyan body, his soul remained a dragon soul forged from the bloodline of Yan and Huang—unchanged for a thousand years, unaltered through countless calamities.

For Duan Shuai to place him alongside Japanese pirates and Goryeo barbarians was no different from slapping him across the face and trampling upon his ancestral spirits!

Barros, who had just been sitting steadily atop the qilin, suddenly turned cold-eyed. His fingers clamped around Duan Shuai's throat like iron pincers, lifting him into the air. His voice was cold enough to freeze and split stone. "Barbarians beyond Shenzhou?—Do you mean that tiny island of Dongying, or those leaping rats of Goguryeo?"

Duan Shuai's throat bones creaked beneath the grip. Death was inches away, yet he still grit his teeth and choked out, "Cough... I saw the supreme master of Shenzhou's martial world with my own eyes several months ago. Since you are not the ruler revered by all of Shenzhou, then you can only be some foreign king falsely claiming the title! Where am I wrong?"

The killing intent in Barros's eyes receded slightly, but his face darkened further. "Wrong! Utterly wrong! This Emperor comes from beyond the sea of stars. How can I be mentioned in the same breath as those dirt chickens and mangy dogs!"

Before his words had even faded, the unguarded Fire Qilin launched a furious surprise attack from behind, ramming its head into Barros's back—

BOOM!!

The mountain wall trembled, and shattered stones rained down;

yet the Fire Qilin seemed to have struck a bronze wall. It staggered back more than ten paces before crashing deep into the cave wall, making the entire cavern hum and shake.

"Hmph! In consideration of your thousand years guarding the Dragon Vein, This Emperor will spare your life!" Without even turning his head, Barros casually flung Duan Shuai toward Nie Renwang. "As for those barbarians..."

"Now that This Emperor has descended upon this world, they need no longer exist!"

Once he finished speaking, his figure flickered, sweeping through every cave within dozens of zhang in an instant.

The next moment, he appeared beside a seated skeleton—

The long sword in the skeleton's hand was mottled with rust, yet it still exuded a deep, majestic sword intent;

that ancient golden sword was the Xuanyuan Sword once borne by the Yellow Emperor. Having been separated from its master for many years, the divine weapon had concealed itself, all its sharpness withdrawn.

Barros stood silently for a long while. Something stirred in his gaze—perhaps remembrance, perhaps reverence.

He reached out and slowly removed the faintly glowing Dragon Vein coiled beside the skeleton.

The instant the Dragon Vein entered his hand, a clear and distant aura coursed directly through his limbs and bones.

It was neither true qi nor internal energy, but a vast, ancient rhythm of heaven and earth. In a single instant, it cleared his mind and stilled every thought.

He nodded slightly—indeed, it was extraordinary. This object suppressed the fortune of an entire land; its reputation was well deserved.

Using it to soothe Broly should pose no problem. But to ensure absolute certainty, he would still need several supplementary materials.

Having obtained it, he did not spare the Xuanyuan Sword another glance. With a flicker, he appeared before Duan Shuai and Nie Renwang.

Duan Shuai had only just struggled to his feet when he looked up and saw that figure. His face immediately turned the color of gold paper, cold sweat pouring down his body.

Forcing his aching, weakened bones to move, he suddenly spread his arms and stood in the way. His voice was hoarse but resolute. "The Dragon Vein cannot be taken away! Beyond Shenzhou's borders, wolves surround us on every side. If you take the Dragon Vein with you, the Central Plains will surely be consumed by war!"

Barros cast him a cold glance. "The day I step out of Soaring Cloud Cave, no barbarian beyond Divine Land will dare call themselves 'watching like a tiger'!"

He had long hated those petty scum to the bone, and his killing intent had already surged to the heavens.

Even without today's struggle over the Dragon Vein, once he left the cave, the nations of Eastern Japan could forget about continuing to cling to life.

As for Eastern Japan's invasion more than a decade later, when No-God Palace nearly overturned the entire martial world?

Once those Japanese vermin had all turned to ash, Barros wanted to see who would still dare establish some No-God Palace more than a decade from now!

But Duan Shuai did not believe him.

Martial artists in this world could indeed split mountains and cleave rivers, ride the wind for a thousand miles, and even glimpse the path to immortality—but that was all.

Since those foreign barbarians dared covet Divine Land, they could not be weak. Even if they fell short of the Central Plains, they were surely powerful nations dominating their respective regions.

With the strength of one man alone, wipe out every foreign force?

Not only would Duan Shuai not believe it—even if Wu Wudi or Di Shitian were here in person, they would take it for the ravings of a madman.

It was simply too shocking and outrageous.

Limited by their horizons, they simply could not imagine the depths of Barros's power;

just as people from a low-martial world found it difficult to understand—what it meant for one man to suppress heaven and earth, one blade to split the seas, or a raised hand to shake mountains.

In Huang Yaoshi's and the others' eyes, such power belonged to a terrestrial immortal;

yet in the world of Wind and Cloud, every top expert could accomplish it.

Barros could not be bothered wasting more words on Duan Shuai. His figure flashed, and his fingertip struck Duan Shuai's brow like lightning. Duan Shuai immediately went limp and collapsed unconscious.

Then, with a backhanded sweep, he sent the Fire Qilin—just as it leapt into the air—flying away with tremendous force. It crashed into the rock wall with a muffled boom. Only then did he coldly look toward Nie Renwang, who still stood frozen in place with a face full of shock. "Nie Renwang, hand over the Nie family's Ice Heart Formula."

"What?" Nie Renwang froze, then decisively shook his head. "The Ice Heart Formula is a mental cultivation method passed down through the Nie family for generations. Forgive me, but I cannot comply!"

Barros was about to speak again when he suddenly remembered something. His gaze shifted toward the Fire Qilin, which was struggling to rise, and he turned to walk toward it without sparing Nie Renwang another glance.

Nie Renwang and Nie Feng were not the only ones in Soaring Cloud Cave who knew the Ice Heart Formula—somewhere on the cave wall, the complete formula was engraved, along with the Nie family's ultimate art, the Six Arts of Proud Cold.

He stopped before the Fire Qilin and looked down at the divine beast wreathed in flames. "Take me to the place in Soaring Cloud Cave where the fruits stained with your blood grow."

The world called those fruits Blood Bodhi, but saying that name to the Fire Qilin would have meant nothing. Barros phrased it differently, and the Fire Qilin understood at once.

But it was unwilling to lead the way—the human before it was clearly a thief here to steal what it guarded!

As if seeing through its thoughts, Barros's lips curled slightly in a cold smile.

He thrust his hand straight into the scorching flames, clamped his five fingers around a qilin horn, then exerted force and viciously slammed it onto the ground!

"Roar—!" The Fire Qilin's miserable howl shook the cave. The flames around its body immediately flickered unsteadily, brightening and dimming like dying candlelight.

"Heh." Barros gave a soft snort of laughter. Right before Nie Renwang's eyes, he lifted the Fire Qilin and repeatedly smashed it against the ground and rock walls!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The dull crashes rang out without pause, mixed with the Fire Qilin's increasingly shrill cries...

After smashing it more than a dozen times, Barros released it. The Fire Qilin crashed heavily to the ground, its eyes glistening with tears as it looked so aggrieved it nearly cried—how could anyone bully a qilin like this? Was having high cultivation really such a big deal?

Nie Renwang, who had long been left dumbfounded, felt his mind buzzing, nearly losing himself in a daze.

The legendary fire demon capable of burning mountains and boiling seas actually looked exactly like a puppy being scolded!

He secretly shook his head. "My injuries must be too severe. My eyes are playing tricks on me..."

How could Barros care what he thought? In his eyes, the Fire Qilin before him was already his next mount.

Boom!

The Universal Capsule burst open. He casually took out a Senzu Bean, then picked up two ordinary fruits he had casually plucked when he first obtained the Neural Tree—the kind that was completely useless to him.

After putting away the capsule, he held the two fruits in his palm. In an instant, a rich, sweet fragrance spread throughout Soaring Cloud Cave.

The unconscious Duan Shuai suddenly opened his eyes and sprang upright; Nie Renwang shuddered all over, feeling the true qi within his dantian surge wildly, so startled that he thought he was hallucinating.