Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Death of the Sinister Demon Wolf and the Dark Demon Eagle

During this journey to register in Lishui City, Li Hao not only befriended two brothers, Lu Zhengtian and Lin Huashu, but also acquired two affordable secret manuals. It was truly a fruitful trip. Li Hao had initially planned to take the books home and ask the Divine Doctor of Hundred Herbs for guidance, hoping to practice as much as possible within these two or three days. Regardless of how much he could master, it would surely be of great help in the selection trial three days later. Although the Divine Doctor of Hundred Herbs possessed unfathomable knowledge in medicine, his understanding of the martial way was rather ordinary. After some thought, Li Hao decided it would be better to seek out the eccentric old man in Five-Star Cave for advice—a choice that proved to be wise.

At this moment, the Golden-Winged Roc was already carrying Li Hao eight hundred miles away from Lishui City.

“Hurry, there are two cultivators following us. Their intentions are hostile, and you’re in no position to face them,” came an urgent warning from Xiao Jiu within Li Hao’s mind-sea, sensing the murderous aura of the two men in black, their target aimed squarely at Li Hao. Alarmed, Li Hao immediately took heed of the warning. Though Xiao Jiu could be unreliable at times, he was trustworthy in critical moments. The Golden-Winged Roc, sensing danger as well, did not hesitate and sped off in the direction Li Hao indicated.

The masked men in black behind them realized Li Hao had detected their presence. Though puzzled as to how he had done so, they did not dwell on it. Channeling their own power, they infused their Evil Demon Wolf and Dark Demon Hawk mounts with law energy, causing these beasts’ speed to skyrocket. Li Hao’s cultivation was still too low; even when he poured his power into the Golden-Winged Roc, the effect was negligible. Within a few breaths, the Evil Demon Wolf and Dark Demon Hawk closed the gap.

Running was pointless—there was no choice but to fight.

“Bite your middle finger and press it to your brow,” Xiao Jiu’s voice once again echoed in Li Hao’s mind.

Xiao Jiu always had his reasons. Though nervous, Li Hao followed the instructions. As his blood touched the brand of the war halberd on his brow, a surge of power erupted from the depths of his consciousness, flooding his entire body. The force was overwhelming, as though it would burst him apart; veins bulged across his face, sweat poured down like rain. Only when he reached the absolute limit of his body’s endurance did the power finally stop. In that instant, Li Hao’s cultivation soared from the perfected Foundation Establishment realm to the pinnacle of the Wandering Realm—a leap of an entire major realm within mere heartbeats. Now, Li Hao felt an unprecedented strength coursing through him.

“Boy, even if you force a breakthrough with a secret technique, it’s just a desperate struggle. I advise you to stop this pointless resistance. We can give you a quick death, otherwise you’ll wish you were dead,” one of the men in black sneered. In their eyes, even with his breakthrough, Li Hao was still a major realm and two minor realms below them—a difference that could not be bridged. They couldn’t understand why their young master would send two mid-tier cultivators of the Severing Realm to kill a mere child with such low cultivation. It seemed like overkill. Tragically, these two loyal assassins did not know their own names had long been entered on their master’s death list.

“Heh, what a joke. Do you really think you two dogs can make me surrender? Are you underestimating me, or overestimating yourselves? In my world, I never just sit and wait for death. If you want my life, since I can't run, come and take it yourselves!” Li Hao looked at the masked men as if they were fools, his tone wild, laced with mockery and disdain.

“Well, aren’t you a sharp-tongued brat. Even at death’s door, you still want to banter? Soon you’ll be begging for life or death, let’s see if you can still talk then.” The two men in black eyed Li Hao, seeing only a boy of about ten, yet his gaze seemed to pierce their souls, sending a faint shiver through their hearts. Despite his youth, his cultivation already marked him as a genius among geniuses.

Li Hao’s defiant glare only fueled their determination to kill. They relished nothing more than snuffing out prodigies in their cradles—the pleasure of tormenting such talents was one of life’s greatest enjoyments for them. Their plan was to slowly torment Li Hao, letting him struggle in despair before finally dying.

Though anxious, Li Hao remained calm, carefully considering his options. Escape was impossible; if he must die, he would die in a blaze of glory.

High in the sky, three men, two birds, and a beast faced off at three thousand meters above the ground. Li Hao, in the midst of them, was like a lone boat adrift on a vast sea—utterly insignificant.

One masked man turned to his companion: “He’s just a child—no need for both of us. You or me?”

“I’ll do it. You stand by and make sure he doesn’t run.”

“Make it quick. Once we’re done, let’s head back and enjoy ourselves. Maybe find a few lovely girls for company—that’s the life.” Laughter followed.

The man who spoke was already dreaming of pleasures before even making a move, confident that killing Li Hao would be effortless. They were already planning how to spend the generous reward.

The attacker clenched his fist and struck at Li Hao’s head. Instinctively, Li Hao leaned back, falling onto the back of the Golden-Winged Roc. He quickly patted its back, signaling it to descend. The roc understood at once, diving toward the ground. The two men hadn’t expected Li Hao to head for the ground; at his current level, he could not fly unaided, and so had to rely on the roc.

Li Hao narrowly dodged the punch. The two masked men had only guarded against him fleeing through the air, knowing the roc’s speed. If Li Hao had been closer to their level, they would never have caught up. They hadn’t expected him to land, and caught off guard, Li Hao seized the chance to reach the ground.

As the roc descended to within a few hundred yards of the ground, Li Hao leapt off its back onto a mountaintop.

The two masked men and their mounts, the Evil Demon Wolf and Dark Demon Hawk, pursued him down. Watching Li Hao leap from the roc’s back, they were baffled by his actions.

While descending, Li Hao quickly asked Xiao Jiu, “Can you tell the Golden-Winged Roc to deal with those two beasts?”

Without hesitation, Xiao Jiu’s voice rang in his mind, “Yes.”

Xiao Jiu gave the order: “Deal with that bird and that wolf.”

The Golden-Winged Roc had no choice but to obey Xiao Jiu, whether it wanted to or not. As Li Hao landed on the mountain, the two men, still over a thousand yards above the ground, leapt off and ordered their mounts to pin down the roc, not wanting it to fetch reinforcements. Both pursued Li Hao together, wary of him having any escape tricks. They knew that should they fail, given their young master’s cruelty, they would not survive.

As the two masked cultivators chased Li Hao, the Golden-Winged Roc turned and engaged the Evil Demon Wolf and Dark Demon Hawk in battle.

Despite being outnumbered, the roc pressed its attackers, forcing them to retreat. With a sudden transformation, the roc’s body swelled to sixteen hundred yards long—the limit of its current power. The wolf and hawk grew to about a thousand yards each. These three titans clashed in the skies, three thousand meters above the ground, their battle fierce and unrelenting.

After hundreds of exchanges, the Evil Demon Wolf and Dark Demon Hawk were left battered and torn by the roc’s steel-like talons and beak. The roc gave them no respite, now focusing its attacks on the Dark Demon Hawk.

Before the wolf could assist, the unlucky hawk had its head crushed by the roc’s talons, its massive body plummeting from the sky, raising clouds of dust upon impact. When the dust settled, the mangled body of the hawk lay at the bottom of a huge crater, lifeless.

Many small animals, unable to escape in time, perished in this calamity, while the survivors trembled in fear at the devastation.

Seeing the hawk die so brutally, the Evil Demon Wolf was seized by the urge to flee.

But the roc would not let it. Without its master’s power to bolster it, the wolf was now like a lamb before a hungry wolf.

In a last desperate lunge, the wolf snapped at the roc’s neck, but its attack was as feeble as a lamb’s struggle against a predator. The roc swooped down, landing atop the wolf, its iron talons piercing deep into flesh and bone, gripping the spine. With a powerful dive, the roc slammed the wolf toward the ground. The animals below, already watching the battle in the sky, fled in terror as the two massive forms descended, but many could not escape.

The roc smashed the wolf into the mountain, its claws crushing its spine. The mountain collapsed beneath the blow, rivers diverted, and the wolf was buried under tons of rock, its body mangled beyond recognition. As the dust settled, the mountain was gone, the land flattened.

Meanwhile, the fight on the other side took a dramatic turn. Though Li Hao had been empowered by a mysterious force, boosting him a whole major realm, he was still no match for two seasoned Severing Realm masters. Lacking combat skills and experience, Li Hao was quickly pushed to his limits.

One of the masked men landed a heavy punch on Li Hao’s back, sending him spitting blood as he tumbled hundreds of yards before finally regaining his footing. Fortunately, his forward momentum had lessened the force of the blow; otherwise, the punch would have shattered his bones.