One month later · Illusory Butterfly Valley
An Illusory Butterfly lay at Shi Yi's feet, its wings shattered. Crystalline scales still drifted through the air, refracting hazy halos of light.
This Fierce Beast at the peak of the Array Formation Realm was now utterly lifeless, its compound eyes still holding traces of disbelieving terror-it had died without understanding why its proud "Thousandfold Illusory Realm" had been completely useless against this human.
"Your illusions were decent, but to deceive the double pupils..." A wisp of Golden Crow flame ignited at Shi Yi's fingertips, burning away the butterfly scales clinging to his robes. "You were nowhere near good enough."
Over the past month, his hunting trails had covered every corner of these mountains. He had battled a Raging Thunder Eagle for three days, finally snapping its lightning-wreathed wings with his bare hands; wrestled a Darkwater Crocodile Turtle deep within the Cold Pool, forcibly overturning its hill-sized shell; and fought the Crimson Flame Snake Pack alone in the Lava Zone, seizing the Crystal Crown of the Snake King amid a sky filled with raining fire...
He took stock of his gains: seven Primitive Treasure Bones floated in the air, each shining with a different light and exuding an ancient aura. Purple lightning patterns danced across the thunder eagle treasure bone, while mysterious defensive runes surfaced on the crocodile turtle treasure bone.
"A pity..." Shi Yi swept his gaze over the hazy mountains beyond the valley. "This incomplete world cannot nurture true sacred medicine after all."
Though the precious herbs in his hand were wreathed in radiant light, they still fell short of quasi-sacred medicine. The nine-aperture exquisite ginseng among them, however, had been an unexpected delight. Its nine naturally formed apertures slowly drew in and released spiritual energy; it was only a hair's breadth from becoming quasi-sacred medicine.
"Time to go back." As his black robes billowed, Shi Yi had already become a streak of light. "This treasure blood will be enough for a baptism."
"Found you-!"
A roar laden with towering fury suddenly thundered out, violently shaking the entire Illusory Butterfly Valley. In an instant, the cliffs on both sides of the gorge collapsed with a crash, and savage gales became countless blue-green wind blades that swept across heaven and earth. High overhead, thunderclouds gathered at a speed visible to the naked eye. Millions of silvery-white lightning bolts danced like frenzied dragons, tearing the gloomy firmament to pieces!
Shi Yi's pupils abruptly contracted. Reflected in his double pupils was a terrifying figure in the distance-a Wind-Thunder Leopard as large as a mountain, striding through the air, every strand of its fur entwined with wind-thunder Dao principles. Merely taking a step made the void groan beneath the burden, while its late-stage Venerable Realm pressure pulverized every plant within a hundred li!
"Roc Precious Technique!"
Without the slightest hesitation, golden light surged around Shi Yi. With a roc's cry that could pierce metal and shatter stone, he transformed into a golden-winged roc and soared upward, covering a thousand zhang with a beat of his wings. His extreme speed compressed the air along his path into sonic-boom clouds, leaving a long white trail behind him.
Damn it! Shi Yi's heart tightened. His double pupils pierced the clouds and mist, clearly revealing the ancient markings on the Wind-Thunder Leopard Venerable's forehead.
Crack-!
A purple lightning bolt as thick as a bucket suddenly struck. Though Shi Yi dodged at the very limit of his ability, it still grazed the edge of his roc wing. Several golden feathers instantly blackened, and terrifying lightning energy raced through his meridians into his body, bringing the metallic sweetness of blood to his throat.
"You killed my clan's juniors and stole my clan's Treasure Art!" The Wind-Thunder Leopard Venerable's voice was as cold as ice from the Nine Hells. Each step carried it several li through the air. "Today, I will tear out your soul and burn it as a sky lantern!"
Shi Yi gritted his teeth and circulated his divine power to resist the lightning invading his body, while driving the Roc Precious Technique even harder as he fled toward the palace.
"Trying to escape through the forbidden land?" The Wind-Thunder Leopard Venerable sneered. Suddenly, it reared upright and tore open the void with its forepaws. "Wind-Thunder Absolute Domain!"
Clatter-
Countless wind-thunder chains shot from the rift, every one inscribed with ancient suppression runes. Though unleashed later, these chains overtook him, weaving an inescapable net before Shi Yi in the blink of an eye!
"You're courting death!"
The Wind-Thunder Leopard Venerable spread its cavernous, blood-red maw, lightning flashing between its stark white fangs. It watched mockingly as that golden streak hurtled straight toward the vast wind-thunder net that blotted out the sky.
Even a Venerable Realm expert would have flesh torn open upon touching this inescapable net woven from ancient lightning patterns, let alone a mere human ant in the Array Formation Realm!
The colossal lightning net bore down with a destructive aura, countless lightning flood dragons spitting blinding electric light. Just as the golden roc phantom was about to be smashed to pieces-
Shi Yi's double pupils abruptly contracted, and chaotic mist surged from their depths, faintly revealing primordial scenes of heaven and earth being sundered into existence. Two beams of almost tangible black light burst from his pupils, shattering space inch by inch like glass wherever they passed!
"Double Pupils Open Heaven!"
This was forbidden power containing the origin of chaos. The instant the black light touched the lightning net, those chains capable of strangling Venerables dissolved like thin frost beneath a blazing sun, rapidly disintegrating with a teeth-grating hiss.
Boom-!
Heaven and earth shuddered, and a breach more than ten zhang wide opened in the center of the lightning net. Along its shattered edges, rampaging lightning runes writhed madly, trying to seal the opening-but how could Shi Yi let them have their way?
The golden-winged roc abruptly folded its wings like an arrow and shot through the rapidly collapsing breach in a flash! A few golden feathers swept up by the fierce winds grazed the edge of the lightning net and instantly vanished in wisps of smoke.
The Wind-Thunder Leopard Venerable's savage smile froze on its face. Never had it imagined that this seemingly insignificant human youth could tear apart the innate Treasure Art it had so painstakingly refined!
"You lowly worm!" Its furious roar stirred towering waves of air. By the time it recovered, that golden streak had already swept across several mountain ranges. As it stared in the direction Shi Yi had fled, its lightning-laced fur bristled all over. "That is a forbidden land even Divine Fire Realm experts dare not enter!"
Shi Yi acted as though he had heard nothing. The golden light on his roc wings began merging with the Golden Crow's solar fire, raising his speed another notch. This was the result of his fusion of the Golden Peng Treasure Art and the Golden Crow Precious Technique.
The Wind-Thunder Leopard Venerable stared fixedly at the golden streak growing ever more distant, lightning flickering in its eyes as ferocity warred with hesitation.
-Not far ahead lay the forbidden land that even it dared not enter lightly.
At that human brat's speed, even if I pursue him with all my strength, I will probably only intercept him at the edge of the forbidden land. But if I venture deep inside, even I may not escape unscathed...
The Wind-Thunder Leopard let out a low growl. All hesitation faded from its eyes, replaced by ruthless resolve.
"A mere human ant dares act so brazenly before me?!"
Boom-!
Its four paws stamped against the air, lightning exploded, and its body became a silvery-white bolt that chased Shi Yi with wild abandon!
Whoosh-!
High in the sky, the golden roc phantom beat its wings and raced onward, with lightning close on its heels. One ahead and one behind, they tore through the heavens, scattering clouds and whipping up howling winds wherever they passed!
No, at this rate, I'll be caught sooner or later... Shi Yi's gaze was icy, runes flowing within his double pupils as he continually calculated ways to escape.
Wind-Thunder Leopards were renowned for their speed to begin with, and this one's cultivation realm far exceeded his own
-if this stalemate continued, he would undoubtedly be caught!
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened-
Ahead, a deep, dark gorge stretched between the mountains, shrouded in black mist, its baleful aura soaring into the sky!
"That is..." Shi Yi's pupils contracted slightly. Within his perception, an utterly savage aura lay dormant deep in the gorge, with blood-red runes faintly flickering around it.
-A late-stage Venerable Realm Blood Shadow Bat!
"Heh, there's my answer." The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and a trace of coldness flashed through his eyes.
The next instant, the golden roc phantom plunged into a sudden dive, hurtling straight into the depths of the gorge!