Sunset Glow Garden was a luxurious estate in the Fire Kingdom where the Fire Emperor often entertained honored guests. It had a teleportation formation that could raise an arena for cultivators to compete.
This time, the Fire Emperor had given Sunset Glow Garden to Huo Ling'er to entertain the young prodigies, while he hosted some veteran Venerables in the imperial palace. Some of those Venerables were his friends, such as the Nine-Spirit Saint King.
Jun Moxiao had previously transformed Huo Ling'er's aptitude, allowing her to open ten cave heavens in the Cave Heaven Realm. The Fire Emperor wanted his precious daughter to shine at this gathering of Heavenly Prodigies, but more importantly, he wanted Jun Moxiao and Shi Hao to intimidate the Heavenly Prodigies from other regions. The Fire Kingdom was not their backyard.
Jun Moxiao found a good seat, then looked at Commandery Princess Qianqian beside him and asked, "Commandery Princess Qianqian, what is your true form?"
Commandery Princess Qianqian smiled. "Young master, I'm from the Chi Dragon clan. Are you interested in our race?"
"Not at all," Jun Moxiao said. "I was just curious about those two little horns on your forehead."
"The Chi Dragon clan? We ran into some in the Hundred Broken Mountains," Shi Hao said. "They were really powerful! They felt stronger than the flood dragon clan."
"No matter how powerful they are, they end up as food when they run into you," Jun Moxiao said.
Commandery Princess Qianqian jumped in fright. "You're that savage?"
Shi Hao scratched his head and smiled. "That was all when I was little. Besides, the fierce beasts I ate were the vicious ones. Look at Big Red and Nine-Headed Lion. They all became my friends."
"Right," Jun Moxiao said. "You ate your way into that friendship with Nine-Headed Lion. You ate five of his heads, then invited him to eat his own heads with you."
Beside them, Witch clutched her stomach with laughter. "Hao Tian! I never imagined that was how you made friends."
Commandery Princess Qianqian trembled all over in fright. What kind of person was he?
Nine-Headed Lion spoke up to Jun Moxiao. "Boss of bosses, could you leave me a few secrets?"
"It's fine," Jun Moxiao said. "But Nine-Heads, how did you get so feeble? You couldn't even beat a Black Cloud Clan being in the late inscription realm? Look at Big Red. He's stronger than you now, when he wasn't even your match back in the Hundred Broken Mountains."
Big Red raised his head smugly and declared, "I'm a genius."
"I've been working hard too," Nine-Headed Lion said. "With my grandfather's guidance, I've reached the mid inscription realm."
Jun Moxiao thought for a moment. "Train with Hao Tian for a while from now on! Hao Tian, help Nine-Heads out more."
"Sure," Shi Hao said. "Little Brother Nine-Heads, your big brother will help you get stronger. As my little brother, you can't be too weak."
Shi Hao turned to Fire Crow, Five-Colored Luan Bird, and Three-Eyed beside him. "You should come along with Nine-Heads too! We're all friends."
"Big Brother...!" Nine-Heads said, deeply moved.
Princess Qianqian asked Jun Moxiao curiously, "What kind of miraculous place is your village, to raise monstrous Heavenly Prodigies like you?"
"That's a secret!" Jun Moxiao said.
Just then, more people arrived outside, including Princess Bingqing from the Mystic Domain. Dressed in blue armor, she was beautiful, though a notch below Huo Ling'er and Witch.
The moment Princess Bingqing saw Commandery Princess Qianqian, she ran over and chattered nonstop. Qianqian introduced Jun Moxiao, Shi Hao, and the others to her. Princess Bingqing exclaimed in surprise, "So you're the Void God Realm legend, Invincible Handsome Guy, and Shi Hao, the Marquis of Desolate Heaven! I wonder how you compare with Qianqian's cousin, though. Since joining the Western Heaven Sect, he's cultivated the indestructible vajra body and already reached the mid formation arrangement realm."
"I'd like to see that for myself," Shi Hao said. "The indestructible vajra body sounds pretty good."
Just then, the Hong Region Human-Body, Snake-Tail Being entered from outside and declared loudly, "Fire Kingdom Princess? Several Heavenly Prodigies from our clan disappeared after entering the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land. Could they have been killed? The Fire Kingdom must give us an explanation."
Jun Moxiao looked at this being. Wasn't this just the Snake-People Clan from that other story where battle qi turned into horses?
Jun Moxiao said to the Snake-People Clan youth, "You chose to enter the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land yourselves. Nobody begged you to go. Besides, any opportunity comes with competition. Isn't that perfectly normal? If you want to blame something, blame their weakness."
Jun Moxiao's words drew the attention of several Heavenly Prodigies. Among them, a flood dragon Heavenly Prodigy from the Yellow Region remembered how a young boy had thrashed them all in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land.
The flood dragon youth hurried forward. "I know him! He's the boy who wiped out all our Seven Regions' Heavenly Prodigies in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land a while ago."
Jun Moxiao stood up. "Since someone recognized me, I won't pretend anymore. I'll lay my cards on the table. I'm the one who beat your Heavenly Prodigies. What about it? Want revenge? Bring it on! Or you can all come at me together."
Jun Moxiao's arrogance enraged the Heavenly Prodigies from other regions, but they hadn't been able to beat him before, and now they had even less chance! All they could do was rage helplessly. "Someone will come to deal with you."
Shi Hao picked up where he left off. "Trash like you has the nerve to show off in front of Handsome Guy? You should thank him for only driving you off. If you really want to fight, I'll play with you."
At that moment, Huo Ling'er arrived at Sunset Glow Garden and addressed the Heavenly Prodigies. "Since everyone wants to compete, get into the arena."
A guard at the great perfection of the formation arrangement realm said to Huo Ling'er, "Princess! Couldn't this get out of hand?"
"Uncle Wang! It's fine," Huo Ling'er said. "Father gave me full authority to organize this gathering. Besides, with my junior brother here, no problem is a problem."
With that, Huo Ling'er activated the teleportation formation, and an arena rose.
Shi Hao was the first to leap into the arena. He shouted arrogantly, "Who's unconvinced? Come up and exchange a few blows!"
Nobody below stepped up. Jun Moxiao saw that this wouldn't do, so he quickly flew into the air, summoned the Fuxi Zither and the Flute, then summoned his spirit body. He intended to perform a zither and xiao duet of "Swordsman’s Song" to stir everyone up.
"Let me liven things up for everyone," Jun Moxiao said.
Jun Moxiao and his spirit body began their duet of "Swordsman’s Song." In an instant, grand, surging music rang out. Everyone immediately felt their blood boil, their desire to fight ignited.
Some Heavenly Prodigies cried out, "What divine ability is this? My blood is boiling, and my whole body is brimming with strength! I can't take it. I'm going up to fight the Marquis of Desolate Heaven! Hahaha!"
Everyone was stunned by Jun Moxiao's performance. Witch and Huo Ling'er exclaimed, "What other trump cards does Xiaoxiao have? Is there anything he can't do?"
Commandery Princess Qianqian said, "Princess, do you feel your blood boiling too? Let's have a fight later! What divine ability is this young master using?"
Watching everyone's reactions, Jun Moxiao curled one corner of his mouth. Please. Nobody could escape the power of this godlike song, not even in another world.
On Blue Star in his previous life, there had been stories of paralyzed patients leaping straight out of bed and taking off running after hearing "Swordsman’s Song." Drivers who heard it drove their cars like fighter jets! There were even more outrageous tales: someone played it at a crematorium, and the dead kicked off their coffin lids, jumped out, and sprinted away, never to be seen again.
In the arena, Shi Hao's blood was boiling too, his fighting spirit soaring to the heavens as he battled a crowd of prodigies from other regions until heaven and earth seemed to darken.
Shi Hao drove back every challenger and laughed heartily. "That felt great! Come on! Let's keep fighting!"
Big Red and Nine-Headed Lion both shouted, "Big Brother is invincible! Big Brother's divine prowess eclipses the world! None can match him!...!"
The other Heavenly Prodigies below stepped into the arena one after another to challenge Shi Hao. He turned none away, becoming a battle maniac.
Seeing so many challengers, Huo Ling'er said worriedly, "That rascal is fighting so many opponents alone. No, I have to go up and fight too."
Witch caught her arm and reassured her. "Don't worry, little sister Ling'er! Hao Tian is a monster who opened eleven cave heavens. He can handle it. Can't you see he hasn't even used his full strength? Besides, Xiaoxiao deliberately arranged this battle for him."
"Is that so?" Huo Ling'er asked.
"Relax!" Witch said. "With Xiaoxiao here, no problem is a problem."
Commandery Princess Qianqian and Princess Bingqing turned to Huo Ling'er with gossip in their eyes. "Your Highness, it looks like there's a story between you and Shi Hao, the Marquis of Desolate Heaven!"
Huo Ling'er's face instantly flushed bright red. "Who has a story with that rascal?" she said bashfully.
Commandery Princess Qianqian and Princess Bingqing shared a knowing look. "Oh! We understand. We understand everything!"
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