Three days later.
"Mountain Treasure… A grand opportunity!"
Shi Yi couldn't help but want to laugh. He really wanted to laugh. Why did so many people believe that such a so-called "grand opportunity" would ever fall into their laps? Why did they think the heavens would simply drop treasures into their hands?
To be honest, if Shi Yi didn't have the backing of Liu Shen—a towering pillar ensuring his safety—he wouldn't have dared to pursue the Mountain Treasure with his current cultivation.
But because he did come, he witnessed a scene drenched in blood and chaos. Human cultivators, ancient relics, and pure-blood ferocious beasts clashed in a brutal melee. Severed limbs and broken bodies littered the ground—human and beast alike.
As far as the eye could see, several mountain ranges had become a meat grinder. Countless lives were falling, human and beast, all fighting desperately for this treasure from the Upper Realm.
The great powers of the Upper Realm were like those who bred venomous insects, tossing down a single prize to watch the creatures of the Lower Realm slaughter each other like bugs, until only the strongest remained.
"The four great ferocious beasts of the Great Wilderness haven't shown themselves. The Mountain Treasure is right before us—this is our chance!" a middle-aged man from the Jiao Clan, his head adorned with prominent horns, shouted.
He was locked in combat with an ancient relic—a bizarre serpent covered in crimson scales, with one head, two torsos, six legs, and four wings. Both fought ferociously, blood streaming from their wounds, determined to settle the score.
"This is the heart of the Great Wilderness. Ferocious beasts are endless, and we can't kill them all. Shouldn't we retreat?"
High in the vast sky, a giant radiating purple light grappled with a ferocious bird. But anyone with eyes could see the bird's aura growing stronger while the purple giant was on the verge of collapse.
"Retreat? After so many of us have died, why should we let these beasts claim the Mountain Treasure?"
Not far away, at the foot of the mountains, a dazzling burst of lightning erupted. The surrounding prehistoric beasts and exotic creatures, creeping up for a sneak attack, were incinerated to ash by the thunderous light.
"No, it's over! Old Gui of the Purple Mountain Clan, Luofu Great Marsh is retreating with you. Even if the four great ferocious beasts don't show up or compete for the Mountain Treasure, we're no match for these ancient relics and pure-blood beasts!"
A stern-faced man spoke decisively. He stomped the ground, causing it to collapse, then soared into the sky, leading his group in a swift withdrawal.
"The four great beasts haven't even appeared, and we've already lost nearly half our people. The situation's bad—retreat first! Golden Wolf Tribe, follow me!"
A blood-soaked middle-aged man didn't look back. With a single grab, he crushed a ten-meter-long giant python lunging at him from behind, then bellowed for his tribesmen to retreat.
"You lot… you're nothing but cowards! These beasts aren't mindless lunatics. They fear death too, they value their lives! You're so close, yet you're chickening out now?"
Deep in the mountains, the lightning flared brighter. Seeing the Luofu Great Marsh, Purple Mountain Clan, and Golden Wolf Tribe all begin to flee, a group of lightning-wreathed figures also bolted outward.
At that moment, a colossal beast, a hundred meters tall, appeared at the center of the battlefield.
Its form resembled a tiger or leopard, with long, muscular limbs. It had a dragon's head and tail, its body covered in scales that shimmered between gold and jade. A pair of wings sprouted from its shoulders, and a single horn curved backward from its dragon-like head.
This was a Pixiu—a pure-blood ferocious beast, fully mature.
In its jaws, it held the lifeless body of the horned middle-aged man from the Jiao Clan, who had been battling an ancient relic moments before. The Pixiu had struck from behind, killing him instantly.
"Trying to leave after coming here? You humans are always so arrogant, thinking we're just brainless beasts!"
The Pixiu spoke unhurriedly, chewing its bloody meal. Its crimson eyes, devoid of emotion, coldly scanned the fleeing tribes.
As fellow intelligent beings, it couldn't fathom why these humans held themselves so high, looking down on the intellect of pure-blood creatures. Did they truly believe these supreme beings lacked cunning?
Not long ago, while chasing a human who had killed its offspring, a group of humans had ambushed it. Instead of fleeing, they tried to surround and kill it for its true blood.
And the result?
One by one, it had slaughtered them all, turning them into its meal.
Human wisdom? Hmph, nothing special.
For some reason, the moment Shi Yi, still hidden in the shadows, laid eyes on the Pixiu, a sharp pain gripped his heart, as if he had lost someone dear.
What's happening to me? Shi Yi clutched his chest, the pain overwhelming.
Bewildered, he sank to his knees, fists clenched tightly.
In that brief span, the Pixiu had devoured the remaining forces of the Golden Wolf Tribe, Luofu Great Marsh, Purple Mountain Clan, Jiao Clan, and Thunder Clan. Aside from the Snow Clan, who had stayed out of the fray from the start, every human cultivator sent by the tribes had become the Pixiu's meal.
But as the humans were wiped out, Shi Yi, still concealed, became a glaring beacon in the Pixiu's eyes.
"A human youth? At such an age, why is he in a place like this?"
Confusion flickered in the Pixiu's massive eyes. It couldn't comprehend why a boy like Shi Yi would be in the beast-infested depths of the Great Wilderness.
Then, turning to the surrounding beasts, it said calmly, "The Great Wilderness has no rule against killing the young. But I'm no despicable human, bullying the weak. You lot, go eat him."
At its command, hundreds of ferocious beasts, driven by the Pixiu's authority, lunged toward a spot where no one or nothing seemed to exist.
At that moment, realizing his hiding place had been exposed, Shi Yi had no time to ponder the source of his heartache. Clutching his chest, he shakily rose to his feet.
In the next second, where nothing had been, Shi Yi appeared, as if stepping out from another dimension.
This was a precious technique inherited from a king-tier Demonic Ape, an ancient relic. It allowed the user to conceal their aura and form within spatial folds.
But once discovered, the space would destabilize, expelling the user from the fold. In other words, the technique relied on not being observed. If seen—especially by someone with double pupils or a higher-realm cultivator—the Demonic Ape's bloodline technique was essentially useless.
Of course, double-pupil wielders were exceedingly rare, only a handful existing through history, so the technique wasn't truly useless. Against higher-realm cultivators, whether the technique failed or not was irrelevant. But among peers, it was highly effective.
"Roar!"
"Hiss!"
"Shaa!"
One after another, terrifying beasts charged at Shi Yi from all directions, ready to tear the eleven-year-old boy apart and devour him.
In the next instant—
Boom!
Ten suns blazed across the sky, and the earth trembled.
"Kill!"
Shi Yi took a casual step forward, his slender arms spreading wide. His ten Heavenly Passages spun rapidly, voraciously absorbing the surrounding heaven-and-earth energy.
Before the beasts could react, endless lightning crashed down from the sky. Each bolt was as thick as a water barrel, their sheer force and spectacle utterly terrifying.
The Suan Ni Precious Technique embodied the runes of the Thunder Dao. Those who mastered it could command the myriad thunders of heaven and earth, becoming lightning itself, bathed in a sea of thunder.
This was the first time Shi Yi had unleashed the Suan Ni Precious Technique at full power since achieving ten Heavenly Passages.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The thunder roared.
Bolt after bolt of lightning rained down, obliterating the charging beasts. In moments, the hundred-meter radius around Shi Yi was reduced to scorched earth, not a single beast left alive.
"Ten Heavenly Passages? Even in the Upper Realm, that's a supreme prodigy. A youth of such caliber wouldn't be alone."
The Pixiu glanced left and right, its eyes wary. Shi Yi's strike far surpassed the Heavenly Passage Realm, but the Pixiu wasn't afraid of him. It feared the protector likely standing behind such a prodigy.
After observing for a while and finding nothing amiss, the Pixiu's gaze landed on a crimson feather atop Shi Yi's head. Instantly, it understood his identity.
"So, you're an envoy of the Vermilion Bird. If I've offended you, please forgive me."
Just as humans had hierarchies, so did beasts. Among pure-blood ferocious beasts, the Vermilion Bird, Zhu Yan, Heaven-Swallowing Sparrow, and Qiongqi stood at the pinnacle of the Great Wilderness. The adult Pixiu had no desire to stir trouble.
"The Mountain Treasure is fated to be mine."
Shi Yi ignored the Pixiu's attempt at goodwill. He lifted his head, gazing deep into the mountains where a towering white pillar of light cradled a fist-sized black orb.
"Boy, leave now and don't be foolish. This isn't something you can covet. Even the Vermilion Bird itself might have a chance, but you?" The Pixiu's tone turned cold.
_
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