Beyond One's Control

As those words fell, the Central Heavenly Palace and the entire plaza rose from the ground, breaking free of the imperial city. Everyone was shaken by the sight-it was like an enormous flying magical artifact.

Before long, they swept through the sky and arrived above a vast Military Drill Ground, slowly descending.

The Military Drill Ground was immense, many times larger than the palace's martial arena. Its edges lay beyond sight, as though they had entered an empty land of death.

The Venerable from Demon Spirit Lake stepped inside without hesitation, staring at Shi Hao as though he were already dead. "How do you want to die?"

"I haven't lived long enough yet. Aside from this big spider, is anyone else here to throw their life away? For instance, did those old fellows I slaughtered in the North Sea send anyone?"

Shi Hao shouted at the top of his lungs, making sure everyone heard him.

"This fellow really did something that incredible?" Everyone's eyes widened.

"It is time to avenge my grandson's murder." The Venerable from Azure Sky Sacred Mountain walked out of the Central Heavenly Palace, his eyes icy.

"Azure Sky Sacred Mountain." Yun Xi frowned. They really intended to strike at a youth over Qing Yun.

Shi Hao was not surprised to see the Venerable from Azure Sky Sacred Mountain. "So it's a bird from Azure Sky Sacred Mountain. Come at me together, then. Anyone else?"

Silence settled over the gathering. Aside from the Venerables from Demon Spirit Lake and Azure Sky Sacred Mountain, no one else stepped forward.

"I could crush you with a single finger," the Venerable from Azure Sky Sacred Mountain said coldly, already itching to strike and erase Shi Hao.

"Two Venerables joining forces? Doesn't that mean he's doomed?"

At this sight, everyone believed Shi Hao would die today. Those were two Venerables, the most powerful beings in the Great Wilderness. How could Shi Hao, a mere Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, possibly contend with them?

A single sneeze from a Venerable could kill Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators by the dozen.

"This Bear Child isn't really going to lose his life here, is he?" Yin Xue asked.

Yun Xi said nothing, but she, too, believed Shi Hao would find it difficult to survive against two Venerables. It was practically certain death.

"All right, it's time to send you two old fossils on your way." Shi Hao stepped into the Military Drill Ground.

The next moment, he began chanting an incantation. "Battle souls wandering through the Grand Void, heed my summons. Cross the boundless worlds and come here to fight."

Everyone was dumbfounded. What was this fellow doing? Had he lost his mind?

Even the two Venerables in the sky were taken aback. Rather than act rashly, they watched quietly, waiting to see what would happen.

Suddenly, sinister winds howled between heaven and earth, and phantoms of divine beasts flashed past. Then the black wind turned red, countless red hairs swirling through it in a deeply unnerving sight.

Caught completely off guard, the Venerables from Demon Spirit Lake and Azure Sky Sacred Mountain were swept into the red whirlwind and vanished.

"The tree longs for stillness, but the wind will not cease."

Seated there, Yun Ying glanced into the Military Drill Ground. A violet gleam flashed, then swiftly disappeared.

Terrified cries rang out from the red-haired whirlwind, making everyone's hair stand on end. For even Venerables to scream so miserably, they must have encountered something truly horrifying.

After a while, the red hairs filling the sky dispersed, and peace returned to heaven and earth. The two Venerables were nowhere to be seen on the Military Drill Ground. Only Shi Hao remained.

The next instant, the gathering erupted. A teenage human youth had actually slain two renowned Venerables. It was like a tale from the Arabian Nights.

Many people were dazed, unable to recover for a long time.

"He really did it," Yin Xue murmured. Yun Xi's heart was far from calm, too. Slaying two great Venerables while only in the Spirit Transformation Realm was unprecedented.

"The Human Emperor bestows wine!"

Someone emerged from the Central Heavenly Palace carrying a jade tray. Upon it rested a Nine-Dragon Cup, shimmering with nine kinds of divine radiance, its wine releasing a rich fragrance.

As expected, the Stone Emperor intended to grant Shi Hao a marquisate-and not just any marquisate, but the rank of Heavenly Marquis, with the title Wild Heaven Heavenly Marquis.

The Stone Emperor's birthday banquet thus reached its climax. A youthful Heavenly Marquis had emerged, and he would surely be among the future contenders for the position of Human Emperor of the Stone Kingdom.

"In the blink of an eye, this fellow became a Heavenly Marquis. It's unbelievable." Yun Xi and Yin Xue returned to their table, still astonished.

When Shi Hao left the Military Drill Ground and returned to the plaza, many people looked at him differently. Those from the Primordial Sacred Mountain, in particular, were filled with bewilderment and suspicion.

From this moment onward, Shi Hao was a Heavenly Marquis of the Stone Kingdom and one of the future successors to its Human Emperor. His standing was utterly different now.

"How did you manage that?" Huo Ling'er asked curiously.

Shi Hao smiled confidently. "Naturally, I relied on the power of the Ancient Heroic Spirit seniors of my Supreme Hall."

Huo Ling'er rolled her eyes at him. From what she knew of Shi Hao, that was definitely not the truth. Still, since he would not tell her, she did not press him further.

"To wear the crown, you must bear its weight," Yun Ying said, as though offering a warning.

Shi Hao's gaze flickered at her words. "You're overthinking it. I have no such ambitions."

"In this world, many things lie beyond one's control. Once caught behind bars, you cannot keep yourself untouched."

As she spoke, Yun Ying reached out and lightly touched the wine in her cup with the tip of her index finger.

As she raised her finger slightly, the wine actually floated up from the cup and spread through the air, forming a transparent scroll painting. Within it lay ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers, with the sun and moon revolving overhead.

Stranger still, a figure danced gracefully within it. The hazy figure danced with a sword amid a brilliant rain of light.

Everyone watched the scene in astonishment and confusion.

Then the transparent painting shattered, turning into crystalline petals that drifted down through the air, sank into the white mist on the ground, and disappeared.