On the way here, Li Mu had already made up his mind. He wouldn’t seize any good resources during this exploration. The east side of the river was vast. He, Yi Hou, and the members of the Cloud Shadow Sky would play the role of assistants. Given Zhang Hanyang’s generosity, he and the others might still earn some benefits.
Mo Wen didn’t say anything about this.
Anyway, he knew his words carried little weight here, so he’d better sit back and watch.
Li Mu’s words made everyone sigh in relief. The smiles on their faces became more enthusiastic as well.
“With your help, I’m sure we can easily occupy this place.” Zhong An inhaled and said, “There are many strange beasts in the Yuan Ying Realm inside. If we fight together against them, it won’t be long before the three Strange Beast Kings come out. Then we shall act according to circumstances.”
“Okay.”
“Haha,” Li Mu looked at Zhong An with a faint smile and said, “I didn’t expect you to enter the Yuan Ying Realm so soon. You are very fast and very good at keeping things to yourself. I didn’t know you were already a Yuan Ying Realm cultivator until a moment ago.”
“Young Master Li, you flatter me. Although I am one step ahead of you, I am much older than you and so have cultivated for a longer time,” Zhong An responded calmly.
Then he took out a bead with his right hand and threw it at the gate of Jade City.
When the bead zoomed to the gate—
“Kaboom!”
With the explosion, violent energy waves swept toward the inside of the city.
The explosion looked mighty. As a matter of fact, it was a bluff that seemed striking but could cause little harm. It was mainly used to lure some of the strange beasts out of the city.
“Grrr! Grrr! Grrr! Grrr!”
Roars sounded one after another.
“Swish!”
In less than ten seconds, more than 30 spirit beasts appeared.
They coldly eyed the group of people outside the gate and growled menacingly.
Some of them were at the Elixir Realm Peak-Stage, which accounted for 30 percent of this beast troop.
“There’s gonna be a fight.”
A wand materialized in Nina’s right hand. She calmly looked forward.
“Er…”
Mengmeng’s big bright eyes blinked quickly as she looked left and right, only to find that everyone was going to take action except for her.
“Humph. Don’t forget I’m a cultivator, too!”
“Fireball Skill!”
Mengmeng suddenly tossed out a fireball, which rapidly charged at the spirit beasts.
This seemed to signal the battle. In a 100-meter race, there was also a person standing on the side of the tracks holding a signal gun. When that person fired the gun, everyone would start to race while he or she stood there and watch. That person would not join in the race.
At this time, Mengmeng was kind of like that person holding the signal gun. As soon as she hurled that fireball, dozens of people around began to move. A fierce battle was about to take place!
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…”
All kinds of muffled sounds were heard without a stop, and endless strikes were launched one after another.
Zhang Han, Zi Yan, and Mengmeng were standing at the back, not making a move. There was no need for them to strike yet.
In truth, they didn’t find the battle challenging.
Most of the people in the fight cast many amazed looks at Mu Xue and the others. They were all astonished by those people’s performance.
“The rumors are all true. They can fight against those at the Elixir Realm Peak-Stage with their Last-Stage strength.”
“When I first heard that they were almost invincible among those at the Elixir Realm Last-Stage, I didn’t believe it. But now, gosh, they’re amazing! Really amazing!”
“Why do they each have a sixth-tier treasure? Darn, how I wish I could rob them!”
“Unfortunately, you don’t have the nerve.”
“Like you have.”
“…”
The people present were indeed taken aback by the strength Zhao Feng and the others displayed. Yet, some of them were not surprised.
Such as Li Mu, Nina, and the others that had seen how they fought before.
Li Mu’s attention seemed to be mainly on Zhong An. Watching him fight those Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage strange beasts with great ease, Li Mu felt quite emotional.
He couldn’t help but say with a sigh, “Zhong An, your strength has improved by leaps and bounds. I’ll enter the Yuan Ying Realm soon. Then, the two of us can spar with each other.”
“Good idea.” Zhong An’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Zhong An’s confident look had aroused Li Mu’s competitiveness. Li Mu laughed out loud, and a soft sword appeared in his right hand. It was a fourth-tier spirit treasure. Its power was very near to the fifth tier.
As one of the Eight Great Young Masters of the Cloud Star Area, the best weapon he could have was merely a fourth-tier treasure. One could imagine how scarce treasures were in the entire Sea Dragon Star Area.
“Hahaha, try my Highest Clouds Sketch!”
As the sword light flashed, Li Mu struck. Instantly, his sword light turned into a cloud more than 3,000 meters long in the air, which formed a mysterious pattern. It seemed to be constantly rotating and brewing a horrible attack.
At this moment, the dozens of people in battle all looked up at the sky.
“The energy waves are pretty strong,” Zhao Feng said with a solemn look.
He figured that if he were Li Mu’s opponent, he probably wouldn’t be able to take this strike. The power of this strike had basically reached the Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage.
“Li Mu turns out to be very strong.” Zhang Mu and Deep Flame sighed with emotion.
“The younger generation should be regarded with awe.”
On the other hand, some from the Sea Dragon Star Area were staggered.
An old man exclaimed, “It’s actually the Highest Clouds Sketch, one of the three greatest secret skills of the Cloud Shadow Sky. Didn’t they say that the three greatest secret skills were all lost?”
“This secret skill Li Mu cast definitely has the power at the Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage. With the strength at the Elixir Realm Peak-Stage, he launched an attack that had the might of the Yuan Ying Realm. He crossed the gap between two different realms. My God, Young Master Li Mu’s aptitude is really rare.” The crowd suddenly began to discuss the strike.
“Young Master Li Mu has actually learned the Highest Clouds Sketch! It is said that this secret skill has been passed down for many years before it was lost. Also, those who have mastered the Cloud Shadow Sky’s three greatest secret skills have a great chance to produce their own supernatural powers. I never knew that they still have the Highest Clouds Sketch. But have they inherited the other two secret skills?”
“If they did, their strength would be frightening. The three secret skills can greatly improve the strength of the Cloud Shadow Sky’s disciples.”
“The Highest Clouds Sketch has an imposing aura. I feel like I can’t breathe even though I’m 10 kilometers from it. This skill is really mighty!”
Even Zhong An stared at Li Mu with a different look. When he saw Li Mu look back at him, he smiled, his eyes flashing with fighting spirit.
“Very good. You’re strong. I look forward to your advancing to the Yuan Ying Realm.”
At first, Zhong An did somewhat belittle Li Mu. To break through to the Yuan Ying Realm was every cultivator’s wish. However, the journey from the Elixir Realm Peak-Stage to the Yuan Ying Realm was very long. It required a very profound comprehension of cultivation. Who knew how longer Li Mu would take to make the breakthrough? By that time, he would probably have reached Yuan Ying Realm Middle-Stage.
But now, seeing that Li Mu could perform the Highest Clouds Sketch, Zhong An was somewhat shocked. Li Mu’s attack was indisputably strong. He could also feel that Li Mu was not far from the Yuan Ying Realm. But what was more important was that he had heard a theory.
If one grasped one of the three greatest secret skills of the Cloud Shadow Sky, one would definitely be able to break through to the Yuan Ying Realm. If one learned two, one could reach the Yuan Ying Realm Peak-Stage. If one comprehended all three, the God Transformation Realm would be around the corner.
The core of this theory was simply that the three secret skills were extremely difficult to comprehend. It would mostly depend on one’s aptitude. Now that Li Mu had exercised the Highest Clouds Sketch with majestic momentum, it was needless to say that he could definitely make it to the Yuan Ying Realm.
“Perhaps the day of our agreed spar is not far away.”
Li Mu looked at Zhong An and felt extremely elated. He suddenly directed the sword in his right hand at a Yuan Ying Realm Early-Stage spirit beast in front of him.
“Buzz!”
The Highest Clouds Sketch in the air instantly turned into a sword more than 3,000-meter long. As it descended, it kept shrinking. When it was a hundred meters off the ground, it was only a one-meter-long sword made of clouds.
But at this time, the sword was plummeting at an incredible speed.
“Swoosh!”
It seemed to have cut through the void. Like a meteor, it fleeted across the sky. In the blink of an eye, it appeared over the spirit beast.
“Grrr!”
The next second, the single-horned elephant died.
The impact the Highest Clouds Sketch caused threw several Elixir Realm spirit beasts nearby dozens of meters backward.
Seeing the effect of the strike, many people’s faces paled slightly.
“Young Master Li has learned the Highest Clouds Sketch! Turns out he has been modest about his talent the whole time. He surely deserves to be one of the Eight Greatest Young Masters.”
Some people began to voice their admiration.
“I’m afraid that Young Master Li is the strongest among the Eight Greatest Young Masters of the Cloud Star Area, isn’t he?”
“Even if he is not the strongest now, he will certainly be when he breaks through to the Yuan Ying Realm.”
“Young Master Li, your talent is extraordinary. How we admire you!”
But these compliments didn’t put a look of triumph on Li Mu’s face. He was long tired of this kind of flattery. He looked at Zhong An with a strong fighting spirit, then flickered his eyes to Chen Changqing and others before finally turning to Zhang Han with a smile.
He was also contemplating. “Zhang Hanyang, now that I’ve performed the Highest Clouds Sketch, no matter how powerful you are, you must be surprised by me.”
However, there was no surprise in Zhang Han’s eyes, but a trace of suspect and confusion.
Li Mu was slightly taken aback.
“The Highest Clouds Sketch.”
Zhang Han looked at the sky in the distance and showed a smile.
“Very good.
“People are still using the Cloud Shadow Sky’s three greatest secret skills. This means that those people had existed in the world before.
“Then there is nothing to worry about. I’ll meet those people somehow in the future. When they see me again, their expressions must be very interesting.”
“Bang, boom…”
After battling for more than 10 minutes, more than a dozen spirit beasts were killed, and the strange beasts led their team to flee into Jade City.
“Let’s enter the city!”
Zhong An was in high spirits. He shouted and led the others into Jade City.
All the buildings inside were made of jade, including the ground. It gave people the impression that this small city was a giant’s sculpture toy.
The streets were wide and clean. Several angry roars were heard from the depths of the city.
Those were the growls of three powerful Strange Beast Kings.
“Boom! Boom!”
As if 10,000 beasts were galloping, three imposing energy waves emerged from the end of the street.
“The strength of the three Strange Beast Kings should be very close to the Yuan Ying Realm Middle-Stage. This time, we’ll encounter quite many strange beasts in the Yuan Ying Realm. We’re not at a huge disadvantage in number. But to occupy this place, we must undergo a hard fight,” Zhong An said in a deep voice.
Everyone could feel the burning of his passion.
“They’re coming!”
Mo Wen’s spirits were lifted. When he saw the three Strange Beast Kings, he felt that his throat was a little dry.
“What powerful auras!”
A three-tailed marten, a ten-meter-long black scorpion, and a giant bear were approaching.
They looked rather intimidating.
Amongst them, the three-tailed marten’s aura was somewhat mysterious. Its fur and expression held people intoxicated once they cast a glance at it.
“It’s an Illusory Three-tailed Marten.”
Zhang Han said from behind, “It’s a kind of rare strange beast that is proficient in illusion. When you meet one, you should first check the surrounding environment and your teammates. This kind of strange beast likes to cast illusions without you noticing and give you a fatal blow at critical moments.”
Mengmeng’s little face showed a hint of nervousness. She looked around and found nothing unusual, so she whispered, “Eh? But I haven’t seen anything strange around us.”
“Look over there.” Zhang Han pointed to the right side. “There’s another figure. It’s a shadow.”
Mengmeng and Zi Yan immediately looked over and saw that there was really the shadow of a figure. It was a mere profile. But when they looked carefully, they found that their consciousness was blurred. They couldn’t see that figure’s clothes or faces clearly, as though he or she was hidden in the fog.
“We gotta warn the others!” Zi Yan made to inform the people standing more than 20 meters away confronting the strange beasts.
Zhang Han shook his head slightly. “No need. Let them feel the beast’s power themselves. Only then will they have a deep impression of this.”
“Will they be okay?” Zi Yan was a little worried and asked, “won’t that figure hurt Dad and the others?”
“I’m here to protect them.” Zhang Han was rather speechless.
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.”
Zi Yan pressed her red lips. Her big eyes rapidly blinked several times. Then, she was looking sideways as if inadvertently.
“Phew… That was awkward.”
“Grrr?”
Among those strange beasts, there was a fierce Snake-tailed Tiger. It was dazed when its eyes suddenly fell on Zhang Han.
“Fuck, that guy is here?”
It remembered clearly that Zhang Han fought against it like a mad person a few days ago. It couldn’t defeat him at that time. Even its sharp claws couldn’t scratch his skin. “That fierce man’s come here?”
“Growl, growl, growl…”
The Snake-tailed Tiger arched its back, edged its way to the side of the three-tailed marten, and cried out in a low voice.
It was passing on the information.
“Brother, that human being over there is ruthless. I got beaten by him a couple of days ago.”
“Swish!”
The three-tailed marten immediately cast its eyes at Zhang Han, sizing him up with a suspicious look.
“He could even defeat the Snake-tailed Tiger?
“Although this little buddy of mine is not very brave, he is quite strong, almost as strong as me. Does it mean that I wouldn’t be able to defeat the man either?
“Oh, I gotta be careful.”
The three-tailed marten did not express its stance, but it unthinkingly took several paces back.
Although treasures were attractive, its life was more important.
“Ha…”
Notcing this, Zhang Han couldn’t help but snigger.
He cast a sound-proof cover around his family and said, “Three-tailed martens are a very smart kind of strange beast. When reaching the God Transformation Realm, they can speak human language. They are naturally cautious and suspicious. They regard their own safety as the prime concern. Actually, they can be easily scared away. Of these three Strange Beast Kings, this three-tailed marten is the most capable one, but also the easiest to deal with.”
“It scares easy?” Mengmeng was taken aback. Her big eyes began to carefully observe the three-tailed marten.
In truth, Mengmeng could be very tense watching this kind of battle. However, as she saw more and more such fights, adding that Zhang Han often explained the situation to the mother and daughter in a calm and soothing way, they gradually felt more at ease. They all believed that they would be safe as long as Zhang Han was with them.
“Get them!”
The two sides silently confronted each other for 10 seconds. Finally, the huge scorpion couldn’t wait any longer. Several beams of light burst out from its tail sting. The aura was overwhelming.
A more fanatical battle broke out.
Zhang Mu and the other relatively weak cultivators present could only stay on the periphery of the battlefield, fighting against Elixir Realm spirit beasts.
The main battle was between the Yuan Ying Realm cultivators and the Yuan Ying Realm beasts. When they struck at the same time, their attacks were earth-shattering. The rogue energy waves alone smashed many jade houses into pieces.
Beams of light flickered around the field. All kinds of weapons flew everywhere, making people dizzy.
After half a minute—
“How powerful they are!”
Li Mu made a few strikes with all his strength. Nevertheless, as he was only at the peak of the Elixir Realm, he could only retreat and fight on the second front.
As for Zhong An, it hadn’t been long since he entered the Yuan Ying Realm. Such a high-intensity battle was also a bit too much for him to handle.
The group of people attacked together, but the strange beasts actually stood up to them as an equal. Gradually, the cultivators seemed to be losing their edge.
Even so, they didn’t panic. Because Zhang Hanyang and Moon Empress were standing behind them.
They had not seen Zhang Hanyang in a fight. But it was said that he was very powerful, and he had even killed Wei Fan. He was one of the strongest people present.
Moon Empress, however, had monstrous combat capability and could launch infinite attacks. Who could withstand her?
With the two here, they would still be as steady as a rock even if the number of their opponents doubled, let alone they were only dealing with these strange beasts in front of them.
But why hadn’t they taken action?
As they fought, they became more and more exhausted. These people began to think in alarm, “Does Zhang Hanyang plan to take all the treasures in the city? When we are all worn out, would he take down us all at once?”
Thinking of this possibility, they trembled from inside out and began to lose ground.
They had to preserve enough spiritual force, or they could not put their minds at ease.
At this time, Li Mu looked at Zhang Han and said breathlessly, “We can’t hold on any longer.”
“Okay.”
Zhang Han nodded slightly and suddenly looked to the right, stretching out his right hand.
The Qing Ming Seal emerged.
“Ah!”
Mu Xue, Zhang Guangyou, Zhang Mu, Zhao Feng, and those people below the Yuan Ying Realm, including Li Mu, suddenly looked flustered and cried out in horror. They kept retreating, as though they had suffered inexplicable attacks.
The one thing all of them had experienced was that they were surrounded by whiffs of faint pink energy.
This was an illusion attack from the three-tailed marten.
After lying in ambush for a while, the three-tailed marten placed its targets on those below the Yuan Ying Realm. If it did away with those cultivators and then joined the others to attack those in the Yuan Ying Realm, its force would soon win this battle.
But to its surprise, someone here undid its supernatural power. It was none other than the man that the Snake-tailed Tiger was afraid of!
“Zhao Feng, you, you…”
Mu Xue’s face turned pale. She looked at Zhao Feng with some anger. But she broke off mid-sentence, then said with revelation, “We are illusioned, aren’t we?”
“Yes, I also sensed that Instructor Liu abruptly attacked me. Phew…” Zhao Feng said in trepidation.
“It scared me so much that my heart almost jumped out of my throat.”
Dong Chen didn’t want to fight anymore, either. He flew directly to Zhang Han.
The others also retreated to the back, looking scared.
“That’s one of the three-tailed marten’s powers. Therefore, in the face of the various beasts we don’t know about, the first thing we should do is to put on our defense. Though our defense might not be sure-fire, it’ll give us warnings if there is any sort of danger. Only by finding the unexpected problems in advance can we take preventive measures,” Zhang Han explained to everyone.
Zhang Han often shared the common knowledge about cultivation with them in detail.
Seeing this, Li Mu’s curiosity about Zhang Han grew even intenser.
After spending time with Zhang Han’s group for these few days, he found that Zhao Feng and the others knew very little about the Cultivation World. To put it in an exaggerated way, they were like savages who entered the city for the first time. They knew nothing about this place. Everything was new to them.
However, Zhang Hanyang was completely opposite. He knew everything and was willing to teach the others everything.
With this learning speed, one could imagine they were not far from understanding the entire Sea Dragon Star Area.
“Is Moon Emperor going to take action? I don’t think they can handle the beasts any longer,” Li Mu asked in a low voice.
They were now in the same league. Seeing that the people of the Silver-winged Hall were no longer in the mood to fight, Li Mu gave Zhang Han and Zi Yan a reminder. If they continued to stand there and watch others fight, they would more or less cause those people to develop a rebellious mind.
“I’ll listen to my husband,” Zi Yan glanced at Li Mu and answered with a smile.
What she said stunned Li Mu.
“Haha.”
Zhang Han laughed and said, “Man, it seems that you don’t have enough faith in me. Then I’ll…”
Zhang Han trailed off and pondered for two seconds. Then, he revealed a mysterious smile and said something that made Li Mu’s expression alter drastically.
“Then I’ll show you what the real Highest Clouds Sketch is.”
“Hiss!”
Yi Hou’s face showed a trace of astoundment.
Li Mu gasped. When he was still not ready to voice his doubt, Zhang Han’s eyes suddenly shone like diamonds, and he pressed his right hand into the air.
“Swoosh!”
“Whoosh!”
A palm-sized cloud appeared in the sky several kilometers above them.
“What the heck is that? With such a sensational effect, he merely conjured such a small cloud?”
The scene was not very impressive, but what happened next was soul-stirring.
“Rumble!”
A muffled sound spread through the air.
The cloud began to transform quietly. It seemed to have turned into a gale while spinning. The gale was growing larger and larger.
In just seconds, that cloud had turned into a huge cloud cluster with a diameter of 10,000 meters.
There were all kinds of energy lines flashing on the cloud cluster. The patterns formed by the lines were extremely intricate and mysterious. The aura of the cloud cluster was overwhelming, as if it was going to suppress the whole world.
“This…”
Zhong An’s pupils contracted.
Not to mention its power, just its momentum alone manifested that the one who cast this move should at least have the strength of the Yuan Ying Realm Middle-Stage.
Moreover…
“How come he can perform the Highest Clouds Sketch as well?”
