“Hmm, are you talking to me?” The leading youth seemed slightly surprised—who would dare provoke him on ordinary days? He was a wild-looking teenager of about sixteen or seventeen, robust and muscular with a thick mane of black hair, wielding a massive bow, his physique as formidable as a rampaging dragon.
“It’s you!” Shi Hao’s expression was icy.
“Everyone who’s spoken to me like that is dead. Haven’t heard such words in years—feels a bit novel,” the bow-wielding youth chuckled, baring a row of snow-white teeth that carried a chilling edge.
“This one seems like a talent from the Barren Lands, but just how much weight does he carry?” someone beside him remarked.
“Be careful. Some of these natives are quite strong.”
The Azure-Scaled Eagle, dozens of zhang in length, had already begun to crack apart, a bloody hole torn through its chest. A single arrow had felled it from the clouds above, sending it crashing onto a mountain ridge in the wilderness. Blood dyed the land crimson, the stench of iron thick in the air. Its corpse lay there, a pitiful and unjust sight.
A flame of fury burned in Shi Hao’s chest. These outsiders acted without restraint, shooting down disciples of other sects who flew past on their mounts—all for the sake of a meal. Such arrogance! Just a dozen youths from beyond this land, yet they dared act so brazenly, treating the Barren Lands with innate superiority.
“Do you behave like this within your own sects?” Shi Hao asked coldly.
Laughter erupted from the other side, filled with disdain.
“We merely hunt a fierce bird for food. You seem displeased?” one of the youths said casually.
“Boom!”
Shi Hao struck out, his palm sending sand and stones flying. Boulders weighing tens of thousands of jin were flung into the air like straw, his attack fierce and domineering.
“A savage dares to act so arrogantly?” The youth snorted, opening his mouth to exhale a mist of corrosive vapor capable of dissolving even treasures.
In an instant, the boulders in the sky melted into dust, raining down as ash. Shi Hao’s outstretched palm was also enveloped.
“Leave behind an arm and go roast that eagle,” the youth commanded, his tone imperious. He was the second-in-command here, subordinate only to the bow-wielding youth. With a cold laugh, he made his decision mid-battle.
“Hiss!”
White smoke rose in wisps, shrouding Shi Hao’s arm as if something within was rotting away.
“A lesson for you, barbarian. Just a boy from the Barren Lands, yet you dare disrespect us?” The youth clasped his hands behind his back, brimming with arrogance.
“Wait—something’s wrong!”
A moment later, alarm surged in his heart. He retreated swiftly, sensing danger. Others cried out, urging him to evade.
Though Shi Hao’s palm was wrapped in the corrosive mist, his flesh remained pristine—only his sleeve had disintegrated into ashes. His robe, a protective treasure, had been effortlessly dissolved.
Shi Hao’s palm, radiant and unblemished, descended with terrifying force. His fury left no room for restraint, though he refrained from using any divine techniques. Even a casual strike from his physical body was devastating.
“Is this the Vajra Body of the Western Sect? Indestructible flesh!” someone exclaimed, their expression shifting for the first time.
“Block!”
The youth roared, spitting out a small shield. Initially no longer than an inch, dull and unremarkable, it suddenly blazed with radiant light, expanding rapidly. Intricate patterns and symbols emerged, exuding immense power.
Forged from the remnants of a fallen pure-blooded creature, this was no ordinary treasure.
Shi Hao’s palm struck the shield, unleashing a blinding radiance. Divine power surged, reducing nearby vegetation to ash and boulders to dust.
“Break!”
The youth channeled his energy, hoping to withstand the blow. But Shi Hao’s palm was too overwhelming. The shield cracked with a crisp sound, fissures spiderwebbing across its surface.
“What?!”
Gasps of shock erupted. This shield, crafted from the bones of a pure-blooded being, was nearly unbreakable among their peers.
Shi Hao, too, recognized its value and regretted his excessive force. Such a treasure was rare.
Now, his physical prowess was terrifying—even creatures like the Flood Dragon and the Zhujian would hesitate before him. He could subdue pure-blooded beings with ease, let alone shatter a bone shield.
“Snap!”
Another strike shattered the shield completely. His crystalline hand shot forth, swift and merciless.
The youth paled. Even his treasure had failed. With a roar, he mustered all his strength to counter.
Simultaneously, the bow-wielding youth acted, nocking an arrow and releasing a streak of emerald light aimed at Shi Hao’s palm.
A gale howled, boulders tumbled—the sheer force of the arrow’s wind pressure split the earth.
Shi Hao’s fingers glowed as a black tortoise materialized, clashing with the emerald light. The explosion severed the mountain ridge.
The arrow burned fiercely, its power dwindling until it vanished. Shi Hao’s palm, momentarily halted, descended once more.
“Bang!”
The impact, though reduced to half its strength, still sent the youth reeling, his arm trembling violently.
“Crack!”
His armored bracer shattered, fragments of the once-mighty treasure scattering across the ground. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he staggered back.
A single strike had wounded their best and destroyed his treasure. The group’s expressions darkened—they had encountered a true monster.
“You dare call me a savage?” Shi Hao mocked.
The wounded youth’s face twisted with humiliation, but he had no retort. The boy before him was stronger—any rebuttal would only mock himself.
“Just a brute from an uncivilized land,” another sneered defiantly.
Shi Hao clasped his hands behind his back, mirroring their earlier disdain. “Ignorant fools. You treat this place as your hunting ground, shooting at will? You’re the prey here. I was just returning to my village, in need of gifts. Hunting you all will do nicely.”
“Silence!” someone barked.
“Shut your mouth!” Shi Hao shot back, his voice sharper. A surge of runic power sent the speaker stumbling backward.
“We underestimated you. Come, let’s see if you’re fit to roast our eagle or if you’re truly someone formidable,” the group taunted, their pride unyielding even in the face of danger.
“You think you can shoot down my mount and walk away? None of you are leaving,” Shi Hao declared.
“Boom!”
He struck again, summoning the power of the Kun Peng. A vast black ocean materialized, crashing toward them.
“Kill!”
All but the bow-wielding youth attacked. The dark waves sent six or seven flying, blood spraying from their mouths. Others were forced back.
“Fall back! I’ll handle this savage!” the leader shouted.
He loosed arrow after arrow, streaks of emerald light piercing the sky. Shi Hao dodged, the arrows reducing distant peaks to rubble.
“Whoosh!”
Shi Hao retaliated with his own bow—the Wind-Thunder Dragon Bow seized from the Fire Nation’s treasury. Arrows streaked like golden comets, their collisions obliterating the mountain ridge. The Azure-Scaled Eagle’s corpse was pulverized in the chaos.
Screams soon followed as some of the youths were struck, their bodies torn apart.
“Boom!”
The battle escalated. The two abandoned their bows, clashing mid-air in a storm of blows.
“So strong—a pure-blooded Gray Flood Dragon!” Shi Hao realized.
The youth had transformed, his true form a massive gray-scaled dragon wreathed in mist. Their battle raged across the sky, each strike sending shockwaves through the clouds.
“Boss is in trouble… This boy—who is he? Something’s wrong today,” the onlookers muttered fearfully.
A dragon’s roar echoed as the Gray Flood Dragon fought desperately, blood staining its scales.
“Damn it, he’s losing!”
With a final, resounding explosion, the dragon’s head was severed, tumbling to the earth below. Despite their efforts, the group couldn’t save their leader.
“Well, now I have a gift for Stone Village,” Shi Hao mused. What could be better than a pure-blooded Gray Flood Dragon?
Meanwhile, deep in the western wilderness, a figure seated atop a mountain peak opened his eyes. Flames erupted around him, his form blurring within the inferno.
“One of my followers has been slain,” he murmured, his gaze brighter than the fire itself.
Had others known that even a supreme pure-blooded creature was merely his follower, they would have trembled in awe.
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