Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Royal-Rank Silver-Blooded Ancient Beast
Lei Leopard's assault was truly terrifying! Bolts of lightning, thick as a man’s arm, rampaged wildly across the land. Each strike left a charred crater in the earth, and boulders several fathoms high, ancient trees that had stood for centuries—all were either obliterated or reduced to cinder beneath the onslaught. The power of the lightning was such that even a ninth-tier warrior dared not face it head-on; to do so was almost certain death.
Members of the Reincarnation Squad—Yi Feng, Yi Shan, Yi Li and the others—were forced into a desperate scramble to avoid the lightning’s wrath. They sought opportunities to counterattack, but they posed little threat to Lei Leopard; their arrows could not even touch it.
Only Yi Tian, with his Dragon’s Roar Bow, provided any real danger to Lei Leopard. Arrow after arrow, each loosed with a thunderous crack, threatened the beast’s life. Just one careless moment, and Yi Tian’s shot would leave Lei Leopard seriously wounded or dead. Because of this, Lei Leopard was unable to truly threaten the other members of the Reincarnation Squad.
At last, with a furious roar, Lei Leopard charged straight at Yi Tian. Arcs of lightning split the air, crashing down in an attempt to halt his barrage. Yi Tian summoned all his skill in the Art of Soaring Feathers, leaping across ravines, through forests, over sheer cliffs, dodging the relentless barrage as swathes of rock were pulverized behind him.
As Yi Tian once again evaded Lei Leopard’s deadly strike, a Demonbreaker Arrow appeared on his bowstring. In that instant, surging Pure Yang True Qi boiled within him.
Wave Stacking Secret, Ninth Layer!
With a sudden burst, Yi Tian drew the Dragon’s Roar Bow into a half-moon. Seventy thousand pounds of force erupted forth, and the Demonbreaker Arrow was wreathed in searing white flame, transforming into a shaft of eternal fire that pierced the space between them.
The ten-zhang-long Lei Leopard had no chance to evade. The arrow moved with such impossible speed, it appeared before its eyes as if by teleportation. Even though it sensed the trajectory, it could not react in time.
A crimson spray burst forth.
A gaping hole was blown through Lei Leopard’s skull.
"Roar..." Lei Leopard nearly collapsed, but it steadied itself. Its fur bristled upright, and its entire body radiated intense lightning. In an instant, all the remaining energy surged toward the horn on its forehead.
In the next moment, a bolt of lightning several fathoms long, like a thunder-lance, shot forth, traversing a hundred feet to strike directly at Yi Tian.
The attack was blindingly fast—dozens of yards were crossed in a thousandth of a second. Even Yi Tian could not dodge; his body reacted on instinct.
He raised the Dragon’s Roar Bow as a weapon. Terrifying power exploded from his arms as he met the oncoming lightning head-on.
Boom!
Lightning filled the sky, ravaging everything within a radius of thirty yards.
When the deadly light finally faded, Yi Tian’s figure was revealed. His clothes and hair had been scorched to ash by the thunderbolt, leaving only blackened skin and raw, red wounds—a terrifying sight.
“Captain, are you alright?” Yi Shan, Yi Feng, and the others rushed to his side, concern etched across their faces at his wretched state.
“I’m fine.” Yi Tian glanced at the lifeless form of Lei Leopard before replying.
He appeared gravely injured, but the wounds were all superficial—no bones or organs were harmed. In the final clash, he had dispersed most of the lightning’s force, enduring only a fraction. Moreover, through years of Pure Yang True Qi tempering, his body far surpassed that of a typical ninth-tier warrior—almost rivaling the legendary Human Rank experts. The final blow from Lei Leopard, though powerful, did not truly endanger him.
Yi Tian had not expected the beast’s vitality to be so immense. Even after its skull—a critical weak point—was pierced, it had managed one last devastating attack.
Clearly, whether facing beasts or human foes in the future, one must strike with full force and speed, granting the enemy no chance for retaliation. Otherwise, disaster might strike in an instant.
Yi Tian took this battle as a hard-won lesson.
He retrieved a fresh set of clothes from his storage pouch, washed, applied healing salve, and rested to the side.
The rest of the Reincarnation Squad busied themselves with Lei Leopard’s corpse. Its body was of great value, and its flesh was a rare tonic. The group divided the meat among themselves.
Most precious of all was the beast’s Essence Pill. This low-grade Mortal Tier Essence Pill was more than three times larger than those of other beasts, brimming with immense energy, and thus far more valuable.
Yi Tian collected all the Essence Pills. He found that the energy within these was far superior to that obtained from selling them for primal stones. Thus, he kept them for himself—they were destined to be food for his Star Mud Avatar.
After the arduous battle with Lei Leopard, Yi Tian and his companions grew even more cautious. Thereafter, they threw themselves fully into their mission, speeding up the purge of wild beasts. One after another, formidable creatures fell to their arrows, and their collection of Essence Pills grew.
The Reincarnation Squad spent a full month in the Crouching Dragon Mountains. They slew at least three hundred beasts, penetrating five hundred miles into the range. In the direction they traveled, the number of wild beasts dwindled sharply; their efforts had clearly eased the pressure on their tribe.
“This operation ends here—we’re going home.”
On that day, after they easily dispatched a late-stage Ironclad Green-Eyed Eagle, Yi Tian announced the end of the campaign and ordered the return to the tribe.
Yi Feng and the others were overjoyed. A month in the mountains, living off roasted beast meat every day, had left them longing for the tribe’s delicacies. Though not as filling, those dishes were delicious and satisfying. Moreover, their seasonings had long since run out, making even beast meat tasteless in recent days.
This experience taught them the importance of always carrying enough spices and utensils on their journeys. They were, after all, still young.
Just as they prepared to set off for home, the ground began to shake violently. Ahead, the mountains trembled, vast swathes of forest were flattened.
In the next instant, a monstrous beast, over fifty yards tall, appeared before them. A wave of murderous intent swept outward, and in a radius of several dozen miles, all wild beasts and predators cowered in terror, not daring to move, lest they attract its notice.
What met Yi Tian’s gaze was a beast of towering height, its body clad in dark silver scales, eyes as large as bronze gongs, pupils glowing red with silvery light, and its back bristling with jet-black bone spikes that pierced the sky.
“A Silverblood Ancient Beast, bearer of Royal Blood!”
The moment Yi Tian set eyes on it, he recognized the creature.
The Silverblood Ancient Beast—an apex predator with royal lineage. It could eventually grow into a high-tier beast, and with a stroke of luck, become a super-beast feared across the land.
“Run!” Yi Tian instantly shouted to Yi Feng, Yi Shan, Yi Li, and the others. All six unleashed their Soaring Feather Arts, dashing across the earth with each stride covering ten or twenty yards, weaving through the mountains like streaks of light.
The squad ran for their lives. Some among them had yet to recognize the Silverblood Ancient Beast, but its colossal form and overwhelming presence made it clear that this was no adversary they could hope to resist.
With a bestial roar, the Silverblood Ancient Beast spotted the fleeing humans. Rising onto its hind legs, it gave chase—each stride crossing thirty or forty yards in an instant, rapidly closing the distance.
Ordinarily, high-tier beasts disdained to slaughter lesser creatures, unless driven to madness or rage.
But that was the custom among beasts.
Should a beast discover the presence of humans, most would immediately give chase with unrelenting fury.