Chapter 180 - 179: Meeting the Sleeping Beast Again

The Bamboo Grove Courtyard.

The birthday celebration for the master of the Hidden Dragon Sect had come to an end.

Hermit Hidden Dragon and Xia Bingyue watched as the disciples departed.

Luo Tian and Lin Dongfeng were the last to leave.

As they were parting, Luo Tian subconsciously glanced at Xia Bingyue, just as Nun Xia happened to be looking at him.

Their eyes met.

An indescribable emotion flickered in Xia Bingyue’s serene, starlike eyes. There was a hint of conflict and sorrow, as if she wanted to etch his face deep into her memory.

Luo Tian had a gut feeling.

He felt that after this parting, it might be a long time before he saw Nun Xia again.

For some reason, he felt a trace of emptiness and reluctance to part. Perhaps the jade-like immortal body from that beautiful dream was just too captivating to forget.

「Half a day later.」

Lin Dongfeng and Luo Tian returned to the Royal Capital, embarking on their journey home aboard a Spiritual Bird exclusive to the Holy Mansion.

At the Spiritual Bird’s speed, it would only take a day or two to return to the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion.

「On the way.」

Lin Dongfeng seemed to have something on his mind, looking as if he wanted to speak but was holding back.

Luo Tian didn’t ask.

His Spiritual Sense once again detected a faint, almost imperceptible sense of crisis that was steadily brewing and growing stronger.

This feeling of danger had been present ever since he left the Royal Secret Garden.

’Could there have been some oversight regarding Zheng Wei’s death?’

Luo Tian’s brow furrowed slightly.

He circulated the Creation Technique, his fingers forming several strange seals. A mysterious, unfathomable aura emanated from him.

He used the spell to enhance his sense of fortune and misfortune.

The sense of crisis was coming from a distant direction. It was vague and unclear, yet it was steadily approaching.

’It seems I have to prepare for the worst.’

A glint appeared in Luo Tian’s eyes.

He had a premonition that he was about to face a great trial.

...

「In the distant Chilong Dynasty, in the Eastern Domain of the Continent.」

Inside a stern, empty side hall of Prince Zheng’s Mansion, a middle-aged man in a loose, purple-red robe sat on a dragon throne carved with dark gold patterns. His face was clouded with gloom, and the air around him was oppressive, filled with a murderous aura.

"Reporting to the Prince! A message from the Qiu Yue Kingdom has arrived!"

A cloud of black mist flashed and condensed in the hall, revealing a man in black kneeling on one knee.

"If the Qiu Yue Kingdom doesn’t give me an explanation for my son Wei’s death, I will flatten the Qiu Yue Royal Capital!"

Prince Zheng’s expression was as dark as water, and a chilling, soul-shaking light flashed in his eyes.

Several days ago, the Soul Token of his youngest son, Zheng Wei, had shattered in the mansion. Prince Zheng had learned of his death the moment it happened.

"The Azure Cloud Kingdom... Luo Tian..."

Prince Zheng read the letter from the Qiu Yue Kingdom, undisguised killing intent showing in his eyes.

The letter from the Qiu Yue Kingdom stated they were ninety percent certain that the killer was Luo Tian.

"Send a reply to the Qiu Yue Kingdom and the Azure Cloud Kingdom! Tell them to hand over the killer, or I will make countless people die with him!"

Prince Zheng’s voice was laced with a bone-chilling cold, as if it came from the Nine Netherworld Hell.

"As for that Luo Tian! I will exterminate his entire clan!"

Under the influence of his extreme hatred and killing intent, a distorted black spot appeared on Prince Zheng’s face.

"Yes, Your Highness."

The man in black trembled, feeling the oppressive calm before a storm.

Prince Zheng was a prince with real power in the Chilong Dynasty. His influence and background were immense; he even possessed a vassal state whose territory was far larger than the Qiu Yue Kingdom and Azure Cloud Kingdom combined.

Over several decades of conquest, if Prince Zheng hadn’t annihilated ten countries, he had at least wiped out seven or eight.

...

「Four or five days later.」

Azure Cloud Kingdom, Lingyun County.

Near a river in Black Demon Ridge.

"AH! Run—"

A Demon Hunting Team of seven or eight people was being chased by a giant, ink-black crocodile.

SWISH!

The ink-black crocodile let out a low roar and spat a stream of black, watery light, enveloping a Sixth-Layer Meridian Opening Martial Artist who had fallen behind.

"AHH!"

A bloodcurdling scream rang out. The Sixth-Layer Meridian Opening Martial Artist was trapped in the black watery light, unable to move, as the crocodile tore him to pieces and swallowed him whole.

The Martial Artists in front were scared out of their wits and ran even faster.

"What rotten luck! We’ve only been in Black Demon Ridge for two days and we’ve already run into a Spirit Level Demon Beast."

At the head of the group, a middle-aged man in black armor said resentfully.

The man in black armor had a Ninth-Layer of Meridian Opening cultivation and was the leader of this Demon Hunting Team. He frequently entered Black Demon Ridge and was quite famous in Lingyun County.

However, once they encountered a Spirit Level Demon Beast, the Demon Hunting Team would face a life-or-death crisis.

Under normal circumstances, the chances of this were very low.

WHOOSH!

After devouring the Martial Artist, the ink-black crocodile transformed into an afterimage and rapidly closed in on the Demon Hunting Team.

"AHHH..."

More screams rang out as the Demon Hunting Team was scattered and slaughtered.

The ink-black crocodile’s strength was terrifying, and its speed was astonishing. It took only the blink of an eye to kill each person.

’It’s over!’

The entire team sank into endless despair.

"Heh, I’ve finally found another one."

A soft chuckle came from the distance, drawing closer.

An elegant youth in a light black cloak appeared, a look of delight on his face as he drifted over.

’Could strong reinforcements have arrived?’

The leading middle-aged man in black armor was overjoyed.

He glanced over. Everyone’s hopes were dashed. How high could the cultivation of a wet-behind-the-ears youth possibly be?

Only a Spirit Sea Realm expert could deal with a Spirit Level Demon Beast.

SWOOSH!

The youth’s speed was much faster than they imagined, and he shot straight toward the ink-black crocodile.

"What is he doing?"

The members of the Demon Hunting Team stared, looking at him as if he were an idiot.

’This youth’s cultivation isn’t bad, but what a pity...’

The middle-aged man in black armor felt a pang of pity.

But with the youth acting as a meat shield to delay the beast, their own chances of survival would increase.

Suddenly!

The ink-black crocodile stopped its slaughter. Its cold eyes stared at the cloaked youth, as if it sensed some kind of threat.

"Vile beast, hurry up and offer me your flesh and blood."

The cloaked youth said with a faint smile.

ROAR!

The killing intent in the ink-black crocodile’s eyes surged as it transformed into a frantic shadow of black water and lunged at the cloaked youth.

"Good, come at me!"

The cloaked youth laughed loudly. A cyan-jade luster appeared on his body as he unleashed a thick, solid, crystal-yellow palm shadow.

BOOM! CRACK!

The black watery light covering the crocodile’s body shattered instantly, and a bucket-sized, sunken, bloody hole was blasted into it.

The ink-black crocodile’s body was sent flying back seven or eight meters.

’He heavily injured a Spirit Level Demon Beast with a single palm strike!’

The middle-aged man in black armor and the others were utterly shocked, their fleeing figures freezing in place.

HISS-ROAR!

The ink-black crocodile’s ferocity erupted. It spat out a large torrent of black watery light and lunged at the cloaked youth with even more madness.

"Heh."

The cloaked youth remained unhurried, crushing it head-on with one tyrannical palm light after another.

In the span of a few breaths, the ink-black crocodile was covered in wounds, its blood staining the ground.

At that moment, the crocodile finally showed fear and tried to escape.

SHING!

A sword light as brilliant as a river of stars slashed out, cutting the crocodile in two at the neck.

Not far away, the Martial Artists of the Demon Hunting Team were dumbfounded, sucking in a sharp breath of cold air.

The Spirit Level Demon Beast that was powerful enough to annihilate their entire team had been slaughtered by the youth as easily as slicing a melon.

"Huh! This youth looks a little familiar..."

"He’s Luo Tian! The number one on the Human List, Luo Tian!"

Someone in the Demon Hunting Team quickly recognized the cloaked youth’s identity.

One of the Martial Artists even took out a copy of the Human List.

And there, the image of Luo Tian, number one on the Human List’s page of prominent figures, matched the youth before them perfectly.

"Tsk tsk, this giant crocodile should provide a good amount of Spirit Level flesh."

Luo Tian walked to the crocodile’s corpse and began to swiftly carve up its flesh with his Wind and Snow Sword.

It turned out that on his way back, Luo Tian had remembered his agreement with the Sleeping Beast Kun Ga.

So, he had temporarily parted ways with Master Lin in Lingyun County to hunt Spirit Level Demon Beasts in Black Demon Ridge.

He had already slain several Spirit Level Demon Beasts before this one.

"Thank you for saving our lives, Young Hero Luo!"

The middle-aged man in black armor from the Demon Hunting Team led the few remaining Martial Artists over to express their gratitude.

"Mm."

Luo Tian paid no mind to their attempts to chat and build a connection.

Before long, Luo Tian finished carving. With his Storage Ring full and several large sacks slung over his shoulder, he drifted away.

"Number one on the Human List... Seeing him in person is more impressive than the rumors."

"He’s just too strong! If he wanted to kill us, it would be as easy as flipping his palm..."

The members of the Demon Hunting Team showed deep reverence and fear on their faces.

...

「Half an hour later.」

Luo Tian arrived at a canyon.

A massive, bear-like Exotic Beast came into view.

"Hey, partner! The three hundred thousand jin of Two-star Demon Beast flesh should be all here now."

Luo Tian tossed the giant crocodile’s flesh over.

ROAR!

Kun Ga let out a low roar, its small mountain-like body kicking up a whirlwind of dust.

Luo Tian smiled faintly with his hands behind his back, watching the Sleeping Beast Kun Ga devour the crocodile’s flesh.

After the Sleeping Beast had swallowed all the flesh, Luo Tian spoke up, "Old partner, our agreement is now complete."

ROAR! RUMBLE!

Kun Ga’s enormous body suddenly stood up, exuding a heaven-shaking aura as it blocked Luo Tian’s path.

Luo Tian instantly felt a pressure even stronger than that of Hermit Hidden Dragon.

Apparently, Kun Ga’s strength had risen by a fair amount through constant eating and sleeping.

"Partner! You’re not thinking of burning the bridge after crossing it, are you?"

Luo Tian’s expression changed slightly.

However, there was no killing intent coming from the Sleeping Beast.

The Sleeping Beast Kun Ga was kind-hearted by nature and generally wouldn’t harm others without reason.

ROOOAR!

Kun Ga roared a few times at Luo Tian.

"What! You want to eat the flesh of an Earth Level Demon Beast?"

Luo Tian staggered.

An Earth Level Demon Beast was equivalent to a human in the Earth Element Realm.

Kun Ga roared a few more times, stating its conditions.

"You want me to gather three thousand jin of Heart Essence from Earth Level Demon Beasts within three years?"

"And the condition is that I can command you three times?"

Hearing these terms, Luo Tian’s heart pounded with excitement.

Previously, Kun Ga’s Fang could, at most, summon a mere phantom of the Sleeping Beast’s power, less than one-tenth of the real thing.

But this time, if Luo Tian agreed to the pact, it would be like being able to summon an Ancient Exotic Beast with Earth Level combat power, whose strength would definitely surpass that of an ordinary Earth Element Realm expert.

However, gathering three thousand jin of Heart Essence from Earth Level Demon Beasts was far too difficult.

Even though Earth Level Demon Beasts were enormous, he would still need to kill five to ten of them to gather that much Heart Essence.

"Alright!"

After long consideration, Luo Tian agreed.

First, he had been faintly sensing an impending tribulation for the past few days.

Second, having an Earth Level Ancient Exotic Beast as an enforcer would be incredibly cool.

HFF! PUFF!

The Sleeping Beast Kun Ga opened its mouth and spat out a cloud of dark mist, which transformed into a silver-black beast horn and landed in Luo Tian’s hand.