All the laughter stopped short at that moment!
The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger suddenly stopped and sat before Liu Wuxie like a kitten, sticking out its tongue and panting as it licked the top of his foot.
Liu Wuxie reached out and gently stroked the Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger's head. Looking utterly comfortable, it lay on the ground, its face full of enjoyment.
"This is impossible..."
Wan Zhuoran was going a little mad and had completely lost his reason. How could this happen? Liu Wuxie had tamed the Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger.
Their Wan Household was renowned for beast taming. What they had mastered was how to find Demon Beasts' weaknesses and force them to submit. Deep down, the beasts resented the Wan Household and would lash out at the slightest opportunity. Beast tamers were often eaten.
The scene before them defied their understanding. The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger was lying willingly at Liu Wuxie's feet.
Countless people rubbed their eyes, unable to believe everything unfolding before them. Even Xu Lingxue's beautiful eyes revealed a trace of shock.
"Is this a Beast Taming Technique?"
Everyone knew of the Wan Household's Beast Taming Technique. The Demon Beasts they subdued were obedient and docile.
Only a Beast Taming Technique could accomplish this.
A slap in the face!
The Wan Household felt as though their faces had been slapped swollen. Liu Wuxie had challenged the Beast Taming Technique they took such pride in.
Wan Rongzhe stood petrified, fierce killing intent flashing in his eyes. Everything that had happened today had dealt the Wan Household far too heavy a blow.
"This is unbelievable! Quick, take out your memory talismans and record this scene. There must be some secret to it. We can study it carefully when we get back. Perhaps we can comprehend a Beast Taming Technique too."
Memory talismans floated in the air, recording everything happening there.
"What a heaven-shaking reversal! This trash really has opened our eyes."
The situation briefly spiraled out of control. The beast arena descended into chaos, filled with all kinds of discussion. Quite a few people remarked that the Wan Household's Beast Taming Technique was child's play compared to Liu Wuxie's.
This was true beast mastery: making a Demon Beast willingly submit before him, rather than exploiting its weaknesses to force its submission. These were two different concepts.
Xue Yu's expression was frighteningly dark. Under their wager, Liu Wuxie only needed to last the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Time ticked by, and little remained before that time was up.
Wan Zhuoran looked toward his father, waiting for instructions. Even he could no longer be certain of what was happening in the arena.
A hand suddenly made a downward chopping gesture. Wan Zhuoran quickly understood and looked toward a beast tamer concealed in the shadows, who was likewise waiting for his command.
Liu Wuxie stood up, his icy gaze sweeping over Xue Yu. Their contest was about to end.
Whoosh!
Suddenly!
An arrow shot from the shadows with incredible speed. No one had expected a sneak attack.
The arrow was small, only about the length of an index finger. Such a tiny arrow was not enough to kill anyone, so what was it for?
It was not aimed at Liu Wuxie, but at the Blazing Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger. With a whoosh, it sank into its body.
The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger rose with an angry roar of pain. Its eyes suddenly turned scarlet, its temperament grew violent, and it hurled itself madly against the iron cage.
Wisps of strange gas seeped from the wound where the arrow had struck, spreading into the air and quickly dissipating. Liu Wuxie was very close, and that familiar scent entered his nostrils.
"Hallucinogenic Powder!"
His pupils contracted. This was the scent of Hallucinogenic Powder. Back at the brothel, he had been afflicted with it, causing him to go berserk and act irrationally.
The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger's awareness slowly faded. Low growls rumbled from its mouth, and its fur abruptly stood on end. Terrifying Yao Qi formed a whirlwind that surged in every direction.
The suffocating scene finally unfolded. The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger's cultivation kept rising. External stimulation could awaken a Demon Beast's potential, squeezing every last drop of potential from its body within a short time.
"Wan Household, you're truly rotten!"
Liu Wuxie muttered to himself. He could now be certain that the people who had wanted to kill him at the brothel that day were also from the Wan Household.
The spectators in the stands did not know what had happened. The arrow was tiny and had vanished in a flash. Only Liu Wuxie had seen it clearly.
"The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger seems to be enraged."
It slammed its body against the iron cage, searching for an outlet rather than charging at Liu Wuxie. A sliver of reason remained.
Soon, even that last sliver of reason would be swallowed by the Hallucinogenic Powder.
The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger suddenly stopped, spewing Yao Qi from its mouth. Its eyes clouded, and it lost awareness, acting on a wild beast's most primitive instincts. Humans were Demon Beasts' greatest enemies, and the Hallucinogenic Powder magnified its hatred of humanity.
Its forepaws hammered madly at the ground, dripping blood, yet it felt no pain.
It charged headlong at Liu Wuxie, its momentum more than ten times fiercer than before. Its cultivation had climbed to the seventh layer of the first rank.
Wan Zhuoran sat down, a gleam of delighted satisfaction appearing deep in his eyes. The trash who had won a hundred Spirit Stones from him was finally going to die in the Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger's jaws.
It drew closer and closer, crossing more than ten meters in the blink of an eye.
Liu Wuxie still did not move, standing quietly where he was. Could he still make the Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger obey him this time?
It had already closed to within two meters of Liu Wuxie. At such close range, it was too late to dodge.
Its blood-basin maw snapped down from above.
At that critical instant, Liu Wuxie's right hand pressed against his saber's hilt. A glint of cold light flashed through the air and vanished.
As though that light had never appeared, the Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger froze in place, still poised in its downward lunge, but utterly motionless.
"Drip, drip!"
The sound came from the arena. The short saber in Liu Wuxie's hand dripped blood from its tip onto the platform, forming a plum-blossom-shaped bloodstain.
Clunk!
The Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger's enormous head suddenly fell off and rolled to Liu Wuxie's feet. What strength did it take to sever a neck as thick as a bucket with one slash?
The beast arena fell deathly silent. They even forgot to breathe. One slash had killed a Demon Beast at the seventh layer of the first rank.
Xu Lingxue covered her mouth with her small hand, her eyes holding shock and a trace of delight.
Wan Zhuoran and Xue Yu shot to their feet. The sudden change had caught them completely off guard.
"Wan Household, within one month, I'll give every one of you the same end as this Raging Flame Earth-Splitting Tiger. All of you will die."
He raised his long saber and slashed downward, shattering the iron cage before him. Though both were forged from refined steel, Liu Wuxie's long saber was of higher quality, almost capable of slicing through iron like mud.
Without waiting for the Wan Household to open the iron cage, he strode out with his head held high. With every step, his killing intent grew stronger.
Before the crowd, he declared that within one month, he would kill everyone in the Wan Household.
Utterly domineering!
"Trash, don't even dream of leaving the beast arena alive today!"
Wan Rongzhe made a vicious gesture, and a large number of Wan Household disciples rushed out to kill Liu Wuxie. Even a dignified Spirit Cleansing Realm cultivator felt lingering dread at the saber strike he had just unleashed.
Fast!
Precise!
Ruthless!
Most frightening of all, they had seen saber momentum within that strike. It was only an embryonic form, but comprehending it was only a matter of time.
Countless people fled toward the exits in terror. The Wan Household was about to unleash a massacre.
Twelve Wan Household disciples surrounded Liu Wuxie, weapons in hand, and charged madly at him, fighting without any regard for their lives.
"Die!"
Liu Wuxie stepped out of the arena, bristling with killing intent. Before the twelve charging men could see clearly, a cold gleam passed through their bodies, and blood-red heads flew into the air.
Even those at the eighth layer of the Acquired Realm died to a single slash.
Who was trash?
He unleashed Seven Star Steps, like a god of death. Bodies fell one after another. Within a single move, all twelve Wan Household disciples who had charged him were dead.
One kill with each step. He took twelve steps and left twelve corpses, each killed by a single slash. There were no dazzling moves, only simplicity and directness.
"Hiss..."
Sharp gasps filled the scene. The man they called trash was like a god of slaughter, and no one could stop him.
"He hid himself so deeply. He clearly wasn't trash, yet he pretended to be. We all misjudged him."
Over all these years, Liu Wuxie had endured countless disdainful looks and taunts, yet had never argued back, continuing to do as he pleased.
Today, a resounding slap struck every one of their faces. Only they themselves truly understood that heart-piercing pain.
Stepping over the Wan Household disciples' corpses, he followed the rope bridge back to the stands, step by step, walking toward Xue Yu and Wan Zhuoran.
With a sweep of his hand, he gathered all hundred Spirit Stones on the table into the red cloth, tied it into a bundle, and slung it onto his back.
They watched blankly, letting Liu Wuxie take the Spirit Stones.
"Aaah! You trash! You dared kill our Wan Household disciples! I'll kill you!"
Only when Liu Wuxie turned to leave did Wan Zhuoran recover from his shock. He sent a crushing palm strike toward Liu Wuxie.
"Wan Zhuoran, just try laying a hand on him!"
Xu Lingxue shifted her footing and unleashed her innate spirit, blocking Liu Wuxie's path. Warmth filled his heart. She still had a place for him in hers.
Hundreds of Wan Household disciples rushed up, waiting for their patriarch's instructions. Tian Household disciples gathered nearby, itching to act.
Once the Xu Household was destroyed, its assets would soon fall into the hands of the Tian and Wan Households.
The situation was intensely tense. At the slightest stir, heads would fall and corpses would cover the ground.
The saber in Liu Wuxie's hand was still dripping blood. He licked his lips and revealed a sinister smile.
"Both of you will die today." At Wan Rongzhe's command, the Wan Household disciples swarmed forward, every one of them possessing considerable strength.
A great battle was on the verge of erupting. Facing so many experts, with Spirit Cleansing Realm cultivators present as well, the two of them could not escape even if they sprouted wings.
The situation was perilous. Liu Wuxie was about to unleash all his potential and break through to the Xiantian Realm. This was an extremely dangerous act. His heart meridians had not fully recovered, and forcing a breakthrough could damage them and kill him outright.
Just then!
Master Huo, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly stepped forward. His presence rose higher and higher: the half-step Marrow Cleansing Realm.
"Patriarch Wan, would you do this old man the courtesy of letting the two of them leave?"
Master Huo's appearance made Wan Rongzhe's expression shift slightly. The Pill Treasure Pavilion stood aloof from worldly affairs and never interfered in the struggles among the four great lineages. What was his intention in opposing the Wan Household for a piece of trash?