King of Ten Thousand Years

Luo Tian’s decision to go to the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range wasn’t just to find the Ghost Crocodile.

He had been in continuous secluded Cultivation recently, but the results were getting worse and worse.

And now, all the cultivation sites in the Lower Sect Area were practically full. Waiting in line would just be a waste of time.

So Luo Tian decided he might as well go out for real combat experience, honing his Combat Skills and pushing his own potential.

He believed the benefits of tempering himself outside wouldn’t be much worse than arduously cultivating in seclusion within the Yunxiao Sect. If he stumbled upon an opportunity or quickly found the Ghost Crocodile, it would be an even greater gain.

The Yunxiao Sect was located at the head of the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range, a place where Demon Beasts were not only numerous but also extremely vicious and savage.

Luo Tian had just stepped into the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range when he was attacked by a Demon Beast.

Along the way, Demon Beasts continuously appeared, charging at Luo Tian without a second thought.

Of course, they were all Low Tier Demon Beasts, not even qualified to be Luo Tian’s sparring partners. They were all killed in a single blow.

Luo Tian couldn’t even be bothered to collect the materials from the Demon Beasts’ bodies. After all, his Storage Ring had limited space, so he would take the Demon Core at most.

At one point, Luo Tian encountered a Spirit Level Middle Tier Demon Beast with a Cultivation equivalent to a Spirit Sea Realm Sixth Layer Martial Artist.

WHOOSH!

It was a black and red steel scorpion. Its pitch-black eyes stared at Luo Tian as a foul, baleful aura surged forth.

’Spirit Sea Realm Sixth Layer. Perfect!’

Luo Tian activated his Celestial Furnace Treasure Body, transforming into a swift shadow and closing in.

Normally, Martial Artists would fight Demon Beasts from a distance. Someone like Luo Tian, who engaged in close-quarters combat, was extremely rare.

Moreover, this Steel Giant Scorpion not only possessed terrifying strength but also a potent poison. The slightest carelessness would result in a bitter death on the spot.

The Steel Giant Scorpion revealed a look of ridicule, mocking this human’s ignorance.

’Such a weak little body dares to fight me up close? I’ll let this human have a taste of my pincers and the Poison Needle on my tail.’

CHI!

The Steel Giant Scorpion’s left pincer seemed to transform into an incomparably sharp giant blade as it charged forward.

Guiyuan Cloud-Dispelling Hand!

Luo Tian immediately struck out with his palm, which transformed into a three-meter-tall giant palm, surging forward like a thick, crystalline yellow wall.

BOOM!

The Steel Giant Scorpion’s pincer attack slammed into it but only managed to create a dent, failing to break through.

It was a bit baffled and immediately thrust out its other pincer.

BOOM!

Luo Tian used another Guiyuan Cloud-Dispelling Hand to block the Steel Giant Scorpion’s Attack.

ROAR!

The Steel Giant Scorpion was enraged. ’What kind of Defensive Secret Skill is this? How can it be used like this?’

The Steel Giant Scorpion’s poisonous tail descended from above like a black bolt of lightning.

PFFT!

He still sent out a Guiyuan Cloud-Dispelling Hand, but the Steel Giant Scorpion’s poisonous tail was extremely ferocious and pierced through the Palm Force.

However, the Guiyuan Cloud-Dispelling Hand didn’t shatter. Instead, it clung to the scorpion’s tail, its heavy force drastically slowing the tail’s attack speed and even throwing off its aim. It stabbed into the empty ground a meter in front of Luo Tian.

RAWR!

The Steel Giant Scorpion roared in a frenzy.

It had never encountered such a bizarre human whose Defensive Secret Skill was so peculiar.

”Not bad. When used properly, the defensive and restrictive capabilities of the Guiyuan Cloud-Dispelling Hand can produce unexpected results.”

Luo Tian nodded with a smile.

At this moment, he was purely using this Steel Giant Scorpion for practice.

After exchanging a few more blows, the Steel Giant Scorpion finally realized how powerful Luo Tian was. It was no match for him, so it immediately tried to flee.

Seeing this, Luo Tian drew his Ice Trace Sword and began practicing the Nine Heavens Sword Technique.

After chasing it for a while, the Steel Giant Scorpion died full of regret. Before its death, it was filled with remorse for ever provoking this human.

’My current overall strength is about the same as Qi Nan’s was back then.’

Luo Tian looked at the Steel Giant Scorpion’s corpse.

However, with this level of strength, he was still some distance away from becoming an Upper Sect Disciple.

Back then, Qi Nan had also planned to cultivate arduously for half a year before trying to become an Upper Sect Disciple.

”Hm?”

Luo Tian’s Creation Technique suddenly sensed something. A faint sense of crisis was approaching.

’Could the rest of my journey be dangerous?’

Luo Tian guessed.

’From the looks of it, it would be better to return to the Yunxiao Sect.’

But after a moment’s contemplation, Luo Tian dismissed this thought.

’This is the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range, a notoriously dangerous place on the Dongchen Continent. It would be strange if there *weren’t* any danger.’

Luo Tian wasn’t going to scurry back to the Yunxiao Sect just because of a small premonition of crisis.

「Three days later.」

Luo Tian stood on the corpse of a purple Saber-Toothed Tiger.

This was already the fifth Spirit Sea Realm Sixth Layer Demon Beast Luo Tian had slain.

Over these three days of slaughter, the power and Defense of his Celestial Furnace Treasure Body had slightly improved.

His use of the Guiyuan Cloud-Dispelling Hand had also become more familiar. In particular, Luo Tian felt he was getting closer and closer to the True Intent of Palm Technique, as if only a thin sheet of paper separated him, something he could break through at any moment.

This training effect was mainly due to the abundance of extremely ferocious Demon Beasts in the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range.

Furthermore, that faint sense of crisis had gradually intensified, causing Luo Tian to take it very seriously.

However, as for his main mission for coming out here, he had found no clues about the Ghost Crocodile whatsoever.

’Searching like this is too inefficient. I’m afraid I’ll end up returning empty-handed.’

Luo Tian sighed softly. His consciousness entered the Celestial Book World, and he let the Ugly Bird out.

”Young man, it seems you finally understand that this god’s singing is a divine sound! You want to hear it, right?”

The Crow stood on Luo Tian’s shoulder, speaking with a look of smug self-satisfaction.

It cleared its throat and opened its beak to shout, ”Ugly freak, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, could you not...”

SMACK!

A vein throbbed on Luo Tian’s forehead. He slapped the Ugly Bird to the ground, and only then did the maddening singing stop.

”Shut up! From now on, you’re helping me find the Ghost Crocodile!”

Luo Tian yelled.

Unexpectedly, the Crow tried to bargain, ”If you’re willing to be this god’s audience and listen to one of my divine songs, I’ll help you look!”

”...”

The corner of Luo Tian’s mouth twitched.

The Crow’s singing was truly nothing to compliment. If he heard it a few more times, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t go insane.

”Sing again, and I’ll lock you back in the Celestial Book!”

Luo Tian warned.

The Crow immediately shut its beak, but sighed in its heart, ’It seems this young man definitely can’t sing, he’s probably tone-deaf. That’s why he’s jealous of my Divine Sound. Fine, this god won’t hurt your pride.’

”CAW CAW CAW, time to find the Ghost Crocodile!”

The Crow flew into the sky, surveying its surroundings as if searching carefully, and finally disappeared from sight.

’Stupid brat! If you won’t listen to me sing, I’ll go find another audience!’

’This god must reclaim my Sound Dao talent from my Peak Era and let the long-lost, world-shaking Divine Sound return to the world!’

Looking as excited as if it had found its purpose in life, the Crow swiftly flew away.

As for finding the Ghost Crocodile, that was long forgotten.

”This Ugly Bird is so unreliable...”

Watching the Crow fly away, Luo Tian sighed.

He could feel that the Crow hadn’t taken his instructions to heart. It had another goal and probably didn’t even plan on coming back.

’But whatever. It’s good enough that the guy isn’t bothering me or singing constantly.’

’The sense of crisis is getting closer!’

Luo Tian sensed it, and his gaze suddenly darkened.

He immediately put on his Shadow Cloak, concealed his figure and aura, and silently vanished into the depths of the dark, dense forest.

A short while later, a man wearing a black fox mask appeared silently, like a phantom.

SWOOSH!

On his shoulder was a small black fox.

”Lost the target’s scent?”

the masked man asked in a low voice.

The small black fox sniffed around the ground carefully, seeming hesitant. Finally, it looked up at the treetops and chittered a few times.

”Over there?”

The masked man chuckled. ”Luo Tian, a man targeted by me, Black Fox, cannot escape!”

Black Fox. In the criminal underworld, this title was widely known.

Because this was a terrifying assassin on the kill list of the Soul-Seeking Underworld!

SWOOSH!

The masked man picked up the little fox and shot into the distance as a ghostly shadow.

He hadn’t been tracking for long when the masked man frowned. ’Why do I hear singing?’

Someone singing in the Celestial Extreme Mountain Range was indeed very strange.

Suddenly, a sharp, ear-piercing voice that made one’s scalp tingle and heart pound with irritation drifted over.

”Ugly freak, ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, in this era of judging faces, your existence is truly tragic...”

The masked man’s gaze froze as he spotted a black bird in the air not far away.

Only a single, magnified word could describe how he felt right now: Ugly.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!

The little fox in the masked man’s arms pointed at the black bird in the sky and chittered nonstop.

”You’re saying... this Crow has Luo Tian’s scent on it?”

”The intel did indeed mention that Luo Tian has a pet Crow. In that case, I’ll capture this Crow first and force Luo Tian’s whereabouts out of it!”

The masked man made his decision.

SWOOSH!

He instantly shot into the air like a Black Eagle soaring to the heavens, heading straight for the Crow.

SHING!

A dark dagger shot out from his sleeve, creating a silent, dark glint of light.

All of the masked man’s movements were fluid and swift as lightning. An ordinary Spirit Sea Realm Sixth Layer, or even a Spirit Sea Seventh Layer, would have been killed instantly with no way to resist.

But strangely, the masked man’s surprise attack only managed to clip one of the Crow’s feathers. It could be considered a miss.

”How could this be?”

The masked man was astonished.

He couldn’t understand why his painstakingly perfected Ultimate Skill of assassination would have such a huge margin of error.

”CAW CAW CAW, an ugly freak is trying to ambush this god!”

The Crow, belatedly realizing what happened, showed a panicked expression and hurriedly flapped its wings to fly away.

If Luo Tian were here, he would also be utterly astonished. To be able to injure one of its feathers while under the influence of the Crow’s bizarre power was simply unheard of.

It also proved that the masked man’s strength was absolutely terrifying.

The corner of the masked man’s mouth twitched, and he roared in anger, ”Who are you calling an ugly freak?”

For a moment, the masked man even forgot his original objective. All he wanted was to kill this Crow.