The rain and mist gradually dispersed. Shi Hao rode the Nine-Headed Lion, a silver Broken Sword in his left hand and a Suanni Bone Mirror in his right, with the Golden Bone Shears hovering above his head.
He attacked with all his strength. Having recognized the Rain Clan members, he had no reason to hold anything back. Some of the people the Rain Clan had paid to enlist, along with members of several other clans allied with them, had already died. Twelve Rain Clan members remained alive, controlling the great formation.
But they faced the combined assault of Shi Hao and the Nine-Headed Lion, along with attacks from the Silver-Blood Giant, the Tree Person, and the Fire Cloud Sparrow.
The Rain Clan was especially vulnerable to lightning techniques. Against the Suanni Precious Technique, they were soon slaughtered to the last.
The remaining enemies were quickly wiped out as well, yielding a full fifteen millennium-old spirit herbs.
"Let's go. Once you're stronger, the day of reckoning will come sooner or later. When that time comes, I'll lend you a hand."
Seeing Shi Hao's low spirits, Xiao Tian walked over and patted his shoulder.
"I know, big brother. I'm fine. I've grown up already."
Warmth filled Shi Hao's heart, but he immediately answered stubbornly.
"Really? Want a hug from your big brother?"
Xiao Tian shrugged and gave him a mischievous grin.
Shi Hao remembered being four years old, when the eight-year-old Xiao Tian had carried him to meet outsiders from the Thunder Clan, Wolf Clan, Purple Mountain Clan, and the others. He immediately refused outright and patted the Nine-Headed Lion's head. "Run!"
Shi Hao had already fed the Nine-Headed Lion grand promises and inspirational speeches, hoodwinking him completely, so he obediently ran.
But as they passed the shore of a lake, a roar rang out. An enormous scarlet creature burst from the water, white waves surging skyward as though it rode a battle platform of billowing surf. A gigantic mouth appeared, opening more than twenty meters wide.
It was a Scarlet Fish-Dragon a hundred meters long, with a twenty-meter-high dorsal fin, a flood dragon's head, and a fish's body. Its fiery red scales shone more brilliantly than rubies and more dazzlingly than blood diamonds. With a single bite, it tore away a vast stretch of the shore.
The Nine-Headed Lion leaped several hundred meters into the air out of sheer fright. He could only curse the fact that he had not been born with an extra pair of wings.
An entire patch of forest beside them vanished into its jaws. Its pale teeth were incomparably sharp, and terrifying light erupted from its mouth. Runes swept toward Shi Hao and the Nine-Headed Lion like rain, slashing at them. Shi Hao raised the Suanni Bone Mirror and reflected the attack, which shattered a nearby low mountain with a crack.
"You're courting death!"
Xiao Tian had been strolling leisurely behind them, merely teasing Shi Hao and watching how frightened he became. He had never expected a Spirit Transformation Realm Primordial Remnant Fish-Dragon to emerge.
With a mighty shout from Xiao Tian, the ground beneath his feet exploded. He leaped directly over the surrounding mountains, crossed more than ten li, and descended toward the distant lake.
As he fell, his body rapidly expanded until he stood over a thousand meters tall, matching the height of several relatively low mountains nearby.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss-"
Xiao Tian's followers-the Tree Person, the big red bird, and the Silver-Blood Giant-had all turned into hissing snake spirits. It was too terrifying. They had never imagined Xiao Tian possessed such a divine ability. Could it be an Innate Treasure Art?
Before they knew it, they were staring with their mouths agape, too stunned to utter half a sentence. For a moment, they even forgot where they were.
Boom!
His enormous body crashed into the water, instantly raising colossal waves that swept into the heavens. Even the Fish-Dragon was hurled skyward by the force.
Xiao Tian brought his massive hand down. With a boom, the Fish-Dragon was blasted away, smashing a distant mountain into pieces. Amid the rumbling, shattered rocks pierced the sky.
Xiao Tian took a single stride and instantly caught up. Pale golden light flowed around his body as the Kitchen Knife appeared in his hand. He raised it and brought it down, chopping off the flood dragon head.
The cut gleamed like a mirror, without a trace of blood flowing out. All its vital essence remained sealed within the Fish-Dragon's body. This was the marvel of the Kitchen Knife.
It was, after all, the knife of Primordial Heaven's God of Cooking. Who knew how many primordial creatures it had chopped up and served at the Jade Emperor's table? Dragon heart and phoenix liver were merely unremarkable dishes among them.
However, perhaps because Xiao Tian was too weak, he could only use the basic abilities of the weapons themselves, whether the Ruyi Jingu Bang or this Kitchen Knife. He could not sense the deities within them at all.
Inevitably, there were also the dozen or so spirit herbs they had obtained this time, along with the two-thousand-year-old spirit herb the Fish-Dragon had guarded in the lake: a bloodheart orchid.
Its lance-shaped leaves grew in opposite, crosswise pairs. The young leaves were red, while the larger leaves were green on top and red underneath. Its white flowers formed spikes.
A Fish-Dragon feast!
All they had to do was eat!
Xiao Tian chopped off the rear fifth of the Fish-Dragon, a tail section twenty meters long, to go with the flood dragon that was over twenty meters long.
Of course, Xiao Tian also saved some Fish-Dragon meat to take out for the War Goddess and his mother, Duan Zhiyao. Both were at the Spirit Transformation Realm.
After the Fish-Dragon feast, even the more seriously injured Nine-Headed Lion regrew all his remaining little heads. They were still rather small and looked neither proportionate nor attractive, but everything was moving in a good direction, wasn't it?
"They haven't all been killed. The Rain Clan's Twin Prodigies are still alive, and perhaps one or two fish slipped through the net by running fast enough."
On the road, the big red bird brought back more news. He was extremely enthusiastic. At this rate, he would soon be able to open his eighth heavenly grotto. As a Primordial Remnant with a powerful bloodline, he possessed that potential.
The Treefolk genius had benefited as well, breaking through to seven heavenly grottoes.
The Silver-Blood Giant already had eight heavenly grottoes. He had entered the Hundred Broken Mountains Range to seek an opportunity that might let him break through to nine.
The Nine-Headed Lion himself possessed the potential to reach nine heavenly grottoes. His dream was to contend with pure-blooded primordial fierce beast descendants, which meant pursuing the legendary ten heavenly grottoes.
According to legend, pure-blooded primordial fierce beast descendants possessed the foundation and resources to open ten heavenly grottoes.
"It doesn't matter. When soldiers come, we'll meet them with generals; when water comes, we'll block it with earth. We'll simply kill our way through."
Xiao Tian spoke calmly.
No one questioned his words. They had eaten even that terrifying Spirit Transformation Realm Primordial Remnant Fish-Dragon, which Xiao Tian had slain single-handedly. None of the beasts doubted his fighting strength now. They all believed he was a pure-blooded fierce beast descendant wearing human skin.
In the end, they continued onward without finding any more Rain Clan members.
Xiao Tian was speechless. Apparently, the strength he had displayed had been so terrifying that it had scared the Rain Clan away.
He remembered that one of the Rain Clan's Twin Prodigies was Shi Yi, while the other was a girl with some sort of fate-related gift, named Yu Zimo.
If Shi Hao had been alone, she might have come to fight him as she had in the original story, refusing to believe she could lose.
Now that Xiao Tian was here, she was no fool. With two powerful enemies her innate spiritual perception could not see through, coming to throw her life away would mean she was arrogant, ignorant of death, and all breasts with no brains.
The Rain Clan had also sent in Sealed Ones, though he did not know how many. After all, he had beaten up the bearer of Double Pupils. If the Rain Clan knew, they would certainly scheme against him and try to snuff him out.
Of course, Shi Yi might also refuse to accept his defeat and want to enter the Hundred Broken Mountains Range for another fight with him.
Where had things gone off course?
It was likely when he had taught that white-robed Yu Feng and that other fellow-whatever his name was-a lesson. Perhaps the incident had calmed Yu Feng down and allowed him to draw some conclusions.
Since that was the case, he would wait for Shi Yi, the bearer of Double Pupils. He knew that with Shi Yi's talent, he would definitely break through to ten heavenly grottoes before entering the Spirit Transformation Realm.
In other words, he planned to enter the Spirit Transformation Realm before coming to trouble Xiao Tian again.
Perhaps the Rain Clan had already deduced that Xiao Tian had joined the Heaven Mending Pavilion and teamed up with Shi Hao.
Given Shi Yi's conceit, he did not consider Shi Hao an opponent at all right now. After all, there was a four-year age gap.
Perhaps only after dying once would he wake up to the truth: in a battle at the same cultivation realm, he had lost to Shi Hao, who was four years younger.
That meant the Rain Clan's probing was over. The next time they attacked, it would be with the crushing force of ten thousand thunderbolts, intent on killing both him and Shi Hao.
They continued their journey. Xiao Tian sat cross-legged on Big Red's back, resting with his eyes closed, because his Sixth Calabash Brother clone was also attempting to open a twelfth heavenly grotto.
He was soaking in Earth Spirit Milk as he attempted to break through to a twelfth heavenly grotto.
Xiao Tian reckoned it would not be so simple. Perhaps opening twelve heavenly grottoes would require merging his three bodies into one again.
Five days later!
"Taiyi true water! The Rain Clan found taiyi true water! I uncovered the news!"
The Tree Person spoke proudly.
He had finally made a contribution. He was no longer merely a utility tree who could only provide shade.
His racial gift not only allowed him to turn into a tree and conceal himself, but also let him communicate with plants to gather information.
When he discovered traces of the Rain Clan, he initially thought it was only a minor contribution. Only after investigating carefully did he learn that eight hundred years ago, an ancestor of the Rain Clan had visited this place and vaguely sensed the presence of the legendary taiyi true water.
Taiyi true water was a divine liquid one could only encounter by chance, with a wide range of uses. It could be used as an ingredient to refine peerless treasured pills, or as a precious medicine to temper the flesh and strengthen one's foundation.
Even when refining treasured artifacts, adding just a single drop of taiyi true water could raise their quality dramatically.
Moreover, taiyi true water itself contained the laws and order of water. For anyone cultivating water-based treasure arts, it was a supreme treasure.
The Rain Clan had dispatched four Sealed Ones to lead several prodigies in search of the precious medicine. Unwilling to clash with Xiao Tian and Shi Hao for now, they planned to obtain the taiyi true water and send it to Shi Yi for his use. Of course, Yu Zimo also needed it badly.
Upon receiving the Tree Person's information, Xiao Tian and Shi Hao immediately took action. Bringing the Silver-Blood Giant and the Tree Person, they set out riding the Fire Cloud Sparrow and the Nine-Headed Lion.
It was neither beside a great lake nor by a spirit spring. They ventured deep into the only desert in the area and spotted a pool from afar. It was only a meter square, with divine liquid bubbling up and auspicious vapor rising above it.
This treasure was not the slightest bit less precious than Xiao Tian's Earth Spirit Milk, and was superior in certain respects.
Of course, Earth Spirit Milk had its own strengths. It could transform a person down to their very bones. Back then, the old dean of the Deer-Chasing Academy had used it to improve his aptitude, cultivate eight heavenly grottoes, and rise above the rest.
Traveling at full speed for two days and two nights, they finally reached their destination.
The golden desert stretched without end. Its grains glittered like gold, forming a dazzling expanse. Stepping onto it was like stepping into red-hot molten iron, unbearably scorching. Even the wind that blew across it burned hotter than steam. An ordinary person would die instantly upon arriving, reduced to a desiccated mummy.
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian knew that his Seventh Brother's Clone was also here. In the original story, Xiao Tian had managed to arrive here first, and now he could do the same. Eight hundred years ago, the Xiao Clan's Last King-Sealing Expert had visited this place.
Unfortunately, the Great Wilderness was far from peaceful. That King-Sealing expert of the Xiao Clan had ultimately died in battle during a clash between the Stone Kingdom and Primordial Divine Mountain, perishing together with an enemy expert of the same level. From then on, the Stone Kingdom had regarded the Xiao Clan in a different light and offered it considerable protection.
(End of chapter)
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