With a resounding hum, a silver-white giant hand reached out. The youth was utterly indifferent, striking directly at Shi Hao without a single word. “Dragon Summoning Hand!” Many exclaimed in shock, their faces filled with awe. The massive silver hand was densely covered in silver scales—at first, fingers could still be seen, but soon it transformed into a true dragon, claws bared, exuding overwhelming terror!
Shi Hao’s expression shifted. The Sky Mending Pavilion was truly remarkable—to possess such a treasure spell related to a true dragon was enough to shake the world! Though incomplete, it still showcased the profound heritage of this great sect, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
**”Boom!”**
Shi Hao’s aura shifted abruptly. He stood like an unshakable mountain, shedding his playful demeanor as he pressed a palm forward to meet the Dragon Summoning Hand.
Between them, light surged like raging tides, runes clashing violently like a tempestuous sea. The collision was ferocious beyond measure.
Shi Hao’s body swayed slightly. He hadn’t even used a treasure spell—only the most primal runes—yet he had blocked the Dragon Summoning Hand, stunning everyone on the battlefield.
The youth, likely seventeen or eighteen, staggered back several steps, his face flickering between shock and disbelief. How could someone block such a domineering strike?
Shi Hao, too, was inwardly shaken. The Sky Mending Sect was indeed formidable—a mere young disciple was already this powerful, far beyond his expectations.
In truth, the others were even more astonished. They recognized the youth as one of the sect’s core disciples, yet he had been forced into a disadvantage.
At that moment, everyone stared at Shi Hao as if he were a monster. Who was he? What was his background? To be this formidable defied imagination!
Beside the youth stood two women, also enveloped in a sacred glow, their figures hazy. They, too, were stunned. Their junior brother was no ordinary figure in the sect, yet he had been repelled by this outsider.
“Who are you?” the youth demanded, his body wreathed in holy light.
“Has Lunar Grace Goddess arrived?” Shi Hao countered.
The three Sky Mending Sect disciples stiffened, especially the youth, whose expression darkened at the mention of Lunar Grace.
“My senior sister will arrive soon. Now, reveal your identity,” the youth said coldly.
The news that Lunar Grace was coming sent a ripple of tension through the crowd.
“Ask Lunar Grace—she knows who I am,” Shi Hao replied, his playful tone fading as he sought to avoid outright hostility.
“I see. You must be the so-called Young Supreme!” The youth’s gaze sharpened, his eyes gleaming with a mix of arrogance and envy. Beside him, the two women tensed.
They knew Lunar Grace had certain targets, and this Young Supreme was now a figure of extraordinary status, highly regarded.
Many in the crowd gasped, involuntarily stepping back—especially those from the Celestial Eye Sacred Mountain, their hearts pounding at their earlier disrespect.
This was a demon star, unrivaled in his generation. In the entire Barren Territory, few could suppress him—his rivals were not among his peers.
“I’ve been looking for you—to test your strength!” the Sky Mending youth declared, his eyes blazing with fervor, pride, and a hint of jealousy.
“We have no enmity. If anything, I share some camaraderie with Lunar Grace,” Shi Hao said with a smile.
At the casual mention of “Lunar Grace,” the youth’s eyes turned icy, hostility flaring. “Let’s see if the people my senior sister seeks are truly worthy or just empty reputations.”
“Junior brother, mind your manners,” the two women interjected. Though not peerlessly beautiful, their saintly aura set them apart.
“Senior sisters, don’t stop me. I must see for myself whether this Barren Territory prodigy lives up to the legends!” The youth’s eyes gleamed with determination.
Shi Hao grinned, deliberately provoking, “Lunar Grace and I shared wine beneath the moon, journeyed together for over a month—we’re practically kindred spirits. As her junior, why do you harbor such hostility?”
The youth’s eyebrows twitched, his face darkening. Without another word, he lunged forward, his aura exploding with terrifying intensity.
“Junior brother, stop!” the women urged, but their pleas fell on deaf ears.
Clearly, this youth held significant status in the Sky Mending Sect—likely the descendant of a high-ranking elder. Otherwise, his senior sisters wouldn’t be so protective.
**”Boom!”**
The attack was like a dragon’s tail sweeping through clouds. The youth leaped into the air, his leg lashing out like a true dragon, aiming straight for Shi Hao’s head.
Fierce and unrelenting, his runes shimmered like a river of stars, fueled by burning jealousy.
**”Bang!”**
Shi Hao’s palm glowed, a fragmented crimson symbol flickering as the phantom of a Vermilion Bird took form—the embryonic shape of the Four Strikes of the Ancient Vermilion Bird.
Facing a treasure spell imbued with the aura of a true dragon, he didn’t hold back entirely, testing the youth’s limits.
**”Boom!”**
Palm met foot, and the world seemed to explode. Mist billowed, rocks shattered, runes surged, and underground magma erupted hundreds of feet into the air.
Everyone retreated. The clash between a core Sky Mending disciple and the Barren Territory’s prodigy was nothing short of a battle between titans.
The youth winced, stepping back in astonishment. How could someone younger than him be this powerful?
No wonder his grandfather had warned against arrogance—even in the Barren Territory, peerless geniuses could emerge.
“Again!” the youth roared, his aura skyrocketing as runes ignited across his body, amplifying his combat power.
Shi Hao nodded in approval. The Sky Mending Sect was worthy of its reputation—such a young inheritor was rare even among the Barren Territory’s human clans.
He didn’t underestimate his opponent. The Four Strikes of the Ancient Vermilion Bird manifested fully this time, a vivid crimson Vermilion Bird sigil burning in his palm.
**”Boom!”**
The heavens and earth trembled. Magma spewed into the sky as onlookers paled. Shi Hao’s might was overwhelming—even the Sky Mending Sect’s core disciple was outmatched.
The youth’s face drained of color, blood trickling from his lips as he staggered back. Each step cracked the earth, revealing the immense pressure he endured.
“Die!” Gritting his teeth, the youth’s body erupted with sacred light, as if communing with the divine. His power surged once more, shocking all present.
“Junior brother, don’t force it! You haven’t mastered the Sky Mending Art—don’t misuse it!” one of the women cried out.
Shi Hao’s heart skipped a beat. He knew of the Sky Mending Art’s legends—though the Barren Territory’s version was incomplete, the true art resided in the Ancient Sacred Academy.
Even so, the Sky Mending Pavilion’s treasure spell had been lost.
This art, unrelated to the Ten Ancient Fears, was said to have been left behind by a born supreme of humanity—a technique capable of shaking heaven and earth, moving gods and ghosts.
Shi Hao had only learned of it through the Demoness, and his interest was piqued. As a born supreme himself, he longed to witness it firsthand.
Alas, the youth didn’t unleash it—only channeled its power into himself, his body wreathed in divine radiance as he charged.
The battlefield became a storm of runes, sword energy piercing the sky as the two clashed with all their might.
Shi Hao held back, hoping to draw out the Sky Mending Art, but the youth never manifested it, much to his disappointment.
The youth was undoubtedly strong—with this enhancement, he was a rare talent. Had he not encountered Shi Hao, few could rival him.
“Boring,” Shi Hao muttered, delivering a swift kick to the youth’s rear, sending him flying.
“Ah—you!” The youth wasn’t hurt so much as humiliated. A prodigy like him, kicked in the backside!
“You two, join in. Let me see the Sky Mending Art. Lunar Grace is always too polite—she’d rather drink with me than spar.” Shi Hao pointed at the two veiled women.
The crowd gasped. This guy was too audacious—treating the Sky Mending Sect’s core disciples like commoners, summoning them at will.
The youth charged again, forcing the women to intervene, fearing he’d be overwhelmed.
To everyone’s astonishment, even against three opponents, Shi Hao remained unfazed, fighting with the same ease.
**”Thud!”**
After dozens of exchanges, he kicked the youth away again—and even swatted one of the women’s backsides.
“You—I’ll kill you!” The woman erupted, unleashing a barrage of treasure spells in fury.
In the next instant, Shi Hao plucked a hairpin from the other woman’s head, twirling it playfully. “Not a special treasure. Last time I wrestled someone, I took an earring—now that was something.”
“You—scoundrel!” The second woman flushed with rage, attacking madly.
All three Sky Mending disciples went berserk, yet Shi Hao grew increasingly disappointed. No matter how they fought, the Sky Mending Art never appeared.
“Don’t you know the Sky Mending Art?” he finally blurted, having provoked them solely to witness the technique.
He was destined for disappointment. The Sky Mending Art was a guarded treasure of the sect, taught only to a select few like Lunar Grace. The youth had only learned fragments and hadn’t mastered it yet.
“Pathetic.” Shi Hao restrained all three before releasing them.
“You’d better be careful. These are Sky Mending Sect disciples—a transcendent sect spanning multiple domains,” Huo Ling’er whispered.
“No matter,” Shi Hao replied.
The area fell deathly silent. The foreign prodigies, mostly from other domains, were shaken. A single youth from the Barren Territory had humbled them all.
From then on, their arrogance faded. The Barren Territory could not be underestimated—this one youth alone could overshadow them all.
“He’s the Barren Territory’s Young Supreme?!”
“Just him alone can rival the strongest disciples of the supreme sects. No wonder Lunar Grace favors him!”
Disciples from various sects conceded inwardly, reevaluating their assumptions.
“You—don’t you dare leave! Senior sister Lunar Grace will be here soon!” the woman who’d been spanked shouted angrily.
The youth, meanwhile, looked grim, unwilling to face Lunar Grace in defeat.
“Fine, I’ll wait a few days to meet Lunar Grace,” Shi Hao agreed.
News spread like wildfire through the Fire Clan’s ancestral grounds. Foreign prodigies trembled, spreading word of the encounter.
Even those from ancient divine mountains—pure-blooded beings unafraid of the great sects—withdrew after a brief standoff with Shi Hao.
Shi Hao grew solemn. The world beyond the Barren Territory was vast. He sensed that, outside his homeland, he would encounter formidable rivals among his peers.
“Is the Fire Clan’s princess really your sister?” someone asked earnestly.
“Of course. I even said Lunar Grace is my sister,” Shi Hao replied.
“Stop spouting nonsense!” the youth snapped.
“How is it nonsense? She’s one of the candidates I plan to carry back to my village. As the chief says, that makes her my sister,” Shi Hao said seriously.
The listeners were baffled. What kind of logic was this?
“What are you babbling about?” one of the women scolded, unwilling to let her sect’s saintly fairy be disrespected.
“It’s not babble. I’m staying to wait for her. I’ll be returning to the village soon, heading into the Void God Realm for a major battle. Before that, I need to carry back a suitable candidate to fulfill the clan’s wishes,” Shi Hao declared matter-of-factly.
Huo Ling’er had already returned to the imperial palace to reunite with her father, but the big-eyed girl and others remained, their eyes widening at his words.
“You can’t be serious?”
“If she might become my enemy later, aiding my foes, why not just carry her off now that I’ve broken through?” Shi Hao said casually.
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