Chapter 194: Little Hei Shows Its Might

Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Little Hei Shows Its Might

The ten of them, loosely divided into two teams, moved slowly forward into the depths of the gloomy mist.

They had to be wary not only of the hidden dangers within the Ancient Tomb, but also of a potential encounter with people from the other two dynasties.

The other two dynasties had entered the Ancient Tomb from a different location and had a head start, so Yi Xiaoyao and his group had no idea of their current whereabouts.

Just then, Su Xiang cried out in alarm, "Look! There’s a figure up ahead!"

The ten of them stopped in their tracks, their faces filled with shock and suspicion as they peered forward.

Sure enough, amidst the gray mist where a grim wind howled, a blurry, humanoid silhouette stood over a thousand feet away. It was impossible to make out any details.

"Let’s go take a look together."

The group instinctively drew closer together. They already knew that Yin Souls at the Nascent Soul Realm existed within this Ancient Tomb. If this figure turned out to be one, they would have a better chance of dealing with it as a group.

When they were about a hundred feet away, they stopped again.

The figure before them was a stiff corpse. It was propped upright by a great-hammer, half the height of a man, planted in the ground before it.

"That’s... that’s one of my father’s trusted men, Kui!"

Shang Shiqie suddenly cried out, having recognized the dead man.

The expressions of the others shifted. The man looked as if he hadn’t been dead for more than a month. He must have been one of the scouts the King of Shang had sent here previously.

Shang Shiqie seemed to have been fond of Kui, as she rushed toward the corpse.

But in the next moment, Yi Xiaoyao pulled her back.

"Let me go check it out first."

With that, Yi Xiaoyao stepped forward. He possessed the Soul-Devouring Forbidden Technique, so he could easily handle a Yin Soul if he encountered one.

Yi Xiaoyao then fired a sliver of Sword Qi at the corpse’s right leg. It passed straight through with a PFFT, eliciting no reaction.

After confirming the man was truly dead, he walked up and placed a hand on the body. Sensing not a trace of Spiritual Power within, he finally relaxed and turned to nod at the others.

But the moment his eyes met Shang Shiqie’s, he saw her face contort in horror. The others were also crying out in alarm.

"Look out!"

Before the warning had even faded, the group watched as the standing corpse abruptly lifted its ashen face. With its sunken eyes fixed on Yi Xiaoyao’s back, it split its lips into a hideous grin.

Simultaneously, the corpse shot its arm forward, aiming straight for Yi Xiaoyao’s heart. A torrent of black Qi erupted from its body, unleashing the aura of the Golden Core Ninth Realm.

Yi Xiaoyao tensed, feeling an astonishingly cold Qi wash over him from behind.

Everyone flinched and turned away, unable to watch. They could already imagine what would happen next.

It was too close!

Yi Xiaoyao was far too close to the corpse, and his back was completely exposed. Dodging an attack like this was simply impossible.

But just then, a black shadow shot out from the hood of Yi Xiaoyao’s cloak with a SWOOSH. In the next instant, it transformed into a black figure nearly twice the height of a man, shielding Yi Xiaoyao from behind.

BAM!

The corpse’s arm, which had been aimed at Yi Xiaoyao’s heart, was brought to a dead stop.

Everyone’s expression changed as they stared. It was a towering Black Ape. It had raised one arm, and its palm, as large as a fan, had completely enveloped the corpse’s fist.

The corpse itself seemed shocked. It struggled to pull its fist free, but it couldn’t budge an inch.

CRUNCH!

A series of sharp cracks echoed as the Black Ape crushed the corpse’s fist to smithereens, as easily as if it were a clod of dry earth.

Feeling no pain, the corpse simply tore its trapped fist from its own arm. It leaped back a step, then violently swung up the great-hammer and brought it smashing down.

Black mist now swirled around the corpse, and it began to radiate an aura that faintly surpassed the Golden Core Realm.

The faces of the onlookers paled. Even they would have great difficulty dealing with such an aura. Reacting in an instant, they all shot toward Yi Xiaoyao.

But before they could reach him, the Black Ape swung a palm and caught the great-hammer head-on.

The blow, heavy enough to kill a Golden Core Ninth Realm cultivator, merely made the Black Ape’s body tremble slightly before another series of grating cracks rang out.

When the Black Ape opened its hand, the great-hammer fell to the ground as a pile of shattered scrap. The ape then raised its palm and slapped down.

BOOM!

The ground shook violently. The corpse was instantly smashed into the earth, reduced to a pile of rubble.

The entire process took but two movements—raising and swinging a palm. In a flash, it had annihilated an existence comparable to the Golden Core Realm Peak.

The others still hadn’t reached him, but Yi Xiaoyao was the first to react. His eyes turned cold as he saw a black Yin Soul shoot out from the pulverized remains on the ground.

The Yin Soul seemed to want to possess Yi Xiaoyao’s body, as it charged straight for him.

But the moment it made contact with Yi Xiaoyao’s body, it let out a bloodcurdling shriek before being completely devoured.

By now, the others had rushed to Yi Xiaoyao’s side, staring in utter horror at the wreckage on the ground.

"My apologies, Miss Shang."

Yi Xiaoyao offered Shang Shiqie an apologetic smile. He knew she had wanted to give the body a proper burial, but now not even a scrap remained.

But Shang Shiqie, like the others, just shook her head in a daze. If Yi Xiaoyao hadn’t stopped her, she would be the one dead at that corpse’s hands.

Besides, how could she spare a thought for that now? She never would have imagined that the Little Black Monkey could possess such terrifying strength.

Meanwhile, the faces of the cultivators from the Great Chu Dynasty were twitching. They had personally felt the corpse’s aura, which had faintly surpassed the Golden Core Realm. Even they would have been in for a tough fight, yet that Black Ape had annihilated it with such ease!

Bo Hong and his four companions looked incredibly awkward. They had just been saying that Yi Xiaoyao had only brought along a small pet.

If a creature with that kind of power was just a "small pet," then several of them weren’t even as strong as a pet.

Meanwhile, Sword Wind Breaker and the others stared at the Black Ape beside Yi Xiaoyao, their eyes wide with disbelief.

It was clear from how easily Little Hei had dispatched the enemy that he hadn’t even used his full strength.

From the aura Little Hei had exuded during the fight, they had only sensed the power of a high-grade, third-rank Demon Beast. So why was he so much stronger than any other Demon Beast of that rank?

Yi Xiaoyao’s gaze swept over the shocked group, and a faint smile touched his lips. He, of course, understood why they were so surprised.

After all, he’d had the same expression when he first discovered the true extent of Little Hei’s power a few days ago.

As for the questions plaguing their minds, only Yi Xiaoyao knew the answer. Little Hei was the son of the Demon Emperor; how could any ordinary Demon Beast possibly compare?

...