Peerless Divine Power

Ahead, lanterns blazed bright. It was a sprawling inn built into the foot of a two-hundred-meter hill, its slopes covered in rare flowers and exotic herbs. Even from a distance, the night breeze carried their intoxicating fragrance.

This was the most prosperous district within Yin Capital. Not far away lay Food Street; two streets beyond that was the Drunken Beauty Palace, and Cloud-Veiled Gambling City stood barely three li distant.

One had to be wealthy indeed to lodge in this superlative inn.

Jin San Yi, feigning solemnity, scratched words into a stone slab: “Human nature has many weaknesses, and Strong Tiger is no exception. He is too proud to take a junior seriously; even knowing an ambush might await, he will still pursue you.”

He added a special note: “I know his temperament well. I have studied him for a long time. Just go in and lure him out—no problem.”

Xiao Chen nodded. “Good. You all withdraw. I am going now.”

Having finished their reconnaissance, Jin San Yi, Dugu Jianmo, and Niu Ren left three afterimages and vanished at the end of the street.

Xiao Chen stood still for a long time, his body and mind elevated to their peak state. Then, soundlessly, he flew into the night toward the inn. Passing through courtyard after courtyard, he stopped before a three-story tower.

The lamplight still flickered. The windows were open; the fragrance of mountain flowers drifted into the tower. Inside, a bare-chested man of about thirty-five sat in silent meditation. His frame was immense—nearly twice as broad as an ordinary man. There was no flab; explosive muscles coiled over his body like writhing flood dragons, imparting a visceral sense of power. One could imagine his ferocity when unleashed.

As if sensing something, he opened his eyes at that moment.

In the night sky, it was as though two bolts of lightning had flashed—this was no illusion, for actual rumbling wind and thunder accompanied his gaze. His eyes were fearsome. He scanned the sky, and when his eyes fell upon Xiao Chen, a cold smirk curled at the corner of his mouth. He rose abruptly.

Xiao Chen stood tall, his black hair dancing lightly in the night breeze. He hovered in the sky, his eyes as bright as stars, staring impassively at Strong Tiger without the slightest trace of fear.

“You really dare to strike first?” Strong Tiger walked to the window, a powerful aura spreading outward, enveloping Xiao Chen in the air.

Without a word, Xiao Chen coldly raised his right hand. The Spiritual Rhinoceros Sword Wave instantly sprang forth—this time not as a destructive circle, but as a sinuous wave, thick as a water vat, twisting through the sky like the nine-bend Yellow River itself, splitting the heavens as it struck.

Silently, the three-story tower dissolved to ash. Nothing remained. The killing power of the Spiritual Rhinoceros Sword Wave was clear.

But Strong Tiger’s speed was astonishing. As if teleporting through space, he had already reached the high sky a step ahead. A cruel grin twisted his lips as he lunged straight for Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen turned and fled, the Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability manifesting. He stepped through the void as though strolling in a peaceful garden—one step carried him several li. His speed was beyond imagination.

Strong Tiger laughed coldly. Turning into a streak of white light, he gave chase without hesitation. He was not afraid of any ambush Xiao Chen might have laid. In his eyes, these juniors were mere chickens and dogs, unable to withstand a single blow.

“No one can save you tonight!” His icy words drifted across the night sky.

Xiao Chen said nothing, but inwardly he gained a much higher opinion of Jin San Yi. The man had indeed seen through this Strong Tiger’s nature—he must have observed and studied him for a long time.

The cultivation of the Eight Aspect Worlds gave Xiao Chen immense confidence. He clearly sensed that even at his maximum speed, Strong Tiger could not match him. He deliberately slowed, keeping a fixed distance.

As soon as he was out of the city, he spotted the mountain shadows and rapidly fled toward the distant peaks.

Strong Tiger frowned, but pursued nonetheless.

A dragon’s roar shook heaven and earth. A blood-red streak like lightning shot through the air, carrying fierce gales. Dragon qi swept the firmament. The Blood-Red Dragon King bore Dugu Jianmo as he attacked. A crimson beam and a sword-light intertwined, stretching over a hundred meters, slashing down vertically.

Strong Tiger roared in fury. He whirled and tore out a tiger-claw print through the air, colliding with the hundred-meter beam. Brilliant radiance erupted, the sky and earth quaking. Strong Tiger sucked in a cold breath and recoiled.

Not far away, the Blood-Red Dragon King roared majestically, rearing back. Dugu Jianmo on his back only retreated a few steps. One man and one dragon had actually stalemated a demigod in a direct exchange of power!

The Red Dragon had been waiting for many days in the deep mountains outside Yin Capital before reuniting with Dugu Jianmo. Its killing intent was the fiercest among all Dragon Kings. Its crimson scales blazed like a fire in the sky, its killing aura even stronger than Dugu Jianmo’s—ice-cold snowflakes began to drift through the air.

A chill starkness pressed down.

This man and dragon were a perfect match.

“It’s you, you whelp!” Clearly, Strong Tiger knew Dugu Jianmo and his dragon.

Dugu Jianmo and the Red Dragon answered with even more chilling killing intent.

Another dragon cry split the sky. A black streak of light tore through the heavens and arrived in an instant, accompanied by a deep bovine bellow: “Moo—” The thunderous dragon roar and the muffled ox-call rent the air.

A monstrous demon-ox, the size of a small hill, charged at Strong Tiger. Its eyes blazed with fierce light, its huge horns tearing out two icy blades.

“Boom!”

As it crashed toward Strong Tiger, two black-hole-like spatial tunnels shattered open, nearly sucking him in directly.

Strong Tiger’s expression shifted. Another terrifying youth had clashed with him head-on, a demigod, and come away even.

“I-I-I... am also... he-he-here!” Jin San Yi blustered, charging in from the distant sky, leaving everyone dumbfounded. He was riding a donkey, brandishing an enormous cleaver.

Not only Xiao Chen was taken aback; Niu Ren and Dugu Jianmo were stunned too. This killer’s gear was far too... unique.

Riding a donkey was one thing—it was no ordinary beast but a divine flying donkey. But wielding a giant cleaver? Did he use that as his weapon when killing?

When the pure white little donkey appeared, Strong Tiger’s expression immediately changed. And when he saw that oversized cleaver, he ground his teeth. “You... Jin San Yi? The bastard who killed my four nephews!”

The lecherous man waved his giant cleaver. The sky was filled with knife-light, rolling like white waves. The little donkey swayed its head and swished its tail. Despite their impressive momentum, the combination felt utterly absurd.

“It-it-it’s... your grandpa. Th-this honored one... ha-has arrived. I’m... c-called... the pr-professional tiger killer.”

“You’ll pay for your life!” Strong Tiger was incensed. His hatred for Jin San Yi surpassed even his hatred for Xiao Chen. A heavy weapon—a one-footed bronze tiger halberd—materialized in his hand. It weighed over a thousand jin, yet he held it as lightly as straw. He swung it down at Jin San Yi’s crown.

The white little donkey dodged with supernatural speed. The lecherous man flourished his cleaver and shouted, “Scalp him!”—chopping at Strong Tiger’s head.

“Scalping” meant beheading, but the man’s phrasing was gratingly odd.

The one-footed bronze tiger halberd swept back, deflecting the cleaver. At the same time, a deathly power surged forth with dark mist, enveloping Jin San Yi. Strong Tiger had thrown a killing blow, determined to annihilate this terrifying young assassin.

“Kill!”

Xiao Chen, Dugu Jianmo, and Niu Ren charged simultaneously. There was no ceremony; each delivered their most vicious attack.

Xiao Chen began with the Perfect Vessel Seal. A huge crystal vase floated above his head and instantly spewed a beam so bright it dimmed the stars and moon, engulfing Strong Tiger.

Dugu Jianmo was even fiercer. A strand of his vital energy condensed into another Dugu Jianmo, which then merged with his iron sword, splitting toward the blinding radiance.

Niu Ren bellowed, charging like a wild bull. The Ox King soul within him turned into a black streak that shot toward Strong Tiger.

At the same time, the Blood-Red Dragon King and the Black Dragon King roared incessantly. Dragon clan divine arts shattered space; blood-light and black-light rose together, plunging into the brilliant light-curtain.

The deathly dark mist surging toward Jin San Yi was instantly scattered. The combined devastating strike of the four young experts slammed into it.

A sky-rending, earth-shattering sound erupted. The heavens were a blinding glare that made it impossible to open one’s eyes. Vast waves of energy, terrifying beyond measure, flung all four of them back.

Strong Tiger—proud and competitive—had taken the combined blow head-on. His body shook violently, trickles of blood leaking from the corners of his mouth, and he nearly fell from the sky.

When the light faded, the four experts stood at the four cardinal points, hemming in Strong Tiger, whose face had turned somewhat pale.

Strong Tiger had to admit: these four were outstanding figures of the younger generation. Even at their age, he himself might not have reached such cultivation. Tonight looked truly dire.

“You little bastards have some skill!” Strong Tiger laughed darkly. “But you’re still far from it. Without entering the demigod realm, you will never understand the gap between major realms. Tonight, all of you die!”

He put away his one-footed bronze tiger halberd. With a great roar, his entire body blazed with fierce white light, and ultimately he transformed into a ten-meter-long massive white tiger.

“It-it-it... really is a tiger body. It ha-has heaven-bestowed divine patterns! Br-brothers, charge! A priceless white tiger pelt!”

Jin San Yi bellowed, spurring his little donkey, waving his cleaver as he charged first. The little donkey dashed under the white tiger’s belly; the lecherous man’s cleaver swung upward, and he shouted, “Belly incision!”

The white tiger’s giant claw tore down, deflecting the cleaver, and a burst of blazing white light flung Jin San Yi and his donkey tumbling back.

Though Xiao Chen and the others rushed forward, they could not stop Jin San Yi’s ejection. But the three of them and two dragons each unleashed a beam—five rays of light smashed into the white tiger. Both sides recoiled violently.

In the moment the white tiger was thrown back, Jin San Yi mounted his little donkey and struck from ambush.

“Hock cut!”

The huge cleaver flashed with dazzling light and landed squarely on the white tiger’s rear paw.

“Ow—” In pain and rage, the white tiger roared, its seven-to-eight-meter iron tail lashing at Jin San Yi.

“Rump carve!”

The lecherous man, calm and swift, guided his little donkey forward instead of retreating. He reached the base of the white tiger’s tail, dodged the strike, and brought his cleaver down viciously toward the beast’s crotch.

Not only was the man lecherous in appearance, his moves were deeply lecherous too. “Scalp,” “belly,” “hock,” “rump”—each technique was more damaging than the last.

Anyone could see this was no clowning. Every swing of the cleaver merged the man and the weapon into a single whole. The void around him was not merely breaking—it was annihilating. Otherwise, how could he breach a demigod’s body-protecting aura?

Truly terrifying.

Uncanny! Exceedingly uncanny!

That was the white tiger’s feeling. This junior completely ignored his defenses, moving as though through empty space. He could break through and do real harm. It was unimaginable—the tiger was a demigod! Yet a mere Spirit-Treasury expert ignored his protection. If this was a divine art, and if the junior were allowed to grow, the Tiger clan would surely face calamity.

The lecherous man’s motions could not be called... beautiful. But his skill was both brutal and profound. The huge cleaver, silent and space-annihilating, stabbed fiercely toward the white tiger’s crotch.

It forced the white tiger to leap high, leaping like a bolting horse, fleeing in a humiliated bound.

Seeing Jin San Yi fight so fiercely, the other three had to display their strongest arts. Dugu Jianmo’s body gradually faded, then merged with his iron sword, becoming one—a gigantic divine sword sweeping in all directions, its killing aura piercing the celestial river! He crossed space directly to attack.

Confronted by the iron sword spanning the sky, the white tiger blanched. The divine abilities of these four young experts were each more sinister and powerful than the last—they could truly shake a demigod.

Roaring, he opened his maw and spewed a vast white wave of light, colliding with the murderous divine sword.

Dugu Jianmo, whose body had merged with the iron sword, pierced through the white wave and slashed forward, striking the white tiger’s shoulder in an instant.

“Pfft!” Blood sprayed. On the ten-meter-long white tiger, a terrifying wound gaped open at the shoulder, blood gushing forth, staining the sky red.

The white tiger screamed in rage. Dugu Jianmo retreated far after his strike.

The white tiger wanted to pursue, but the Blood-Red Dragon King unfurled ancient dragon combat arts, charging like a beam of blood light, blocking him.

At the same time, Niu Ren went wild. His hair disheveled, the great ox-horns on his head grew to over a meter long. The Ox King soul merged with him—he showed signs of beast transformation. With a roar, he charged like a savage bull.

Speed! Even Xiao Chen, himself blessed with extreme speed, was astonished.

Niu Ren shot forward like a black streak, instantly arriving.

“Bam!” Niu Ren, like a mad bull, drove his meter-long ox-horns through the white tiger’s protective aura, slamming them into the tiger’s left ribcage, leaving two dreadful bloody holes. The enormous bull-rushing force flipped the white tiger head over heels.

“You little bastards—” The white tiger was enraged beyond reason.

But before he could right himself, Xiao Chen was upon him. The Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability unfolded.

The eight aspects revolved rapidly, growing ever clearer, as though eight true worlds had descended. Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire, Thunder, Mountain, Wind, and Marsh all stirred at once!

In an instant, the white tiger was trapped within the Marsh Aspect. Even as a demigod, Strong Tiger felt as though mired in deep mud, unable to break free immediately—he was sealed inside!

“Roar!” He screamed at the sky, feeling the threat of death. He strained with all his might to burst out, but his tail and hindquarters were slightly slower. As he escaped, Water, Fire, Thunder, Mountain, and Wind struck together: Mountain shattered his momentum, Thunder broke his form, Water dissolved his substance, Fire extinguished his spirit, Wind annihilated his awareness.

The white tiger’s long tail disintegrated, dissolving into nothingness within the five aspects. His hindquarters, which barely escaped, were flayed and burst open, as though they had been ground by an enormous mountain. The back half of his body nearly collapsed!

“Roar! You little bastards—if I live, you die; if you live, I die!” The white tiger was nearly driven mad. This was an unimaginable humiliation!

Four Spirit-Treasury youths had repeatedly grievously wounded him! The white tiger gathered his fading might, standing in the sky, surveying the four experts surrounding him. His icy pupils blazed like fire.

Xiao Chen, Dugu Jianmo, Niu Ren, and the two dragon kings all stood cold and indifferent, staring at him without emotion.

“P-p-pain... it hurts so much...” Jin San Yi, riding his donkey, wailed in agony, clutching his chest as if in terrible pain.

Niu Ren started. “Stutterer, what’s wrong? Did you get hit?”

“S-s-so... much money!” Jin San Yi stared at the white tiger’s rump. “Th-the tiger’s ass... you can’t touch it... but... Xiao Chen has c-cut it to pieces! S-so much money lost! Th-the white tiger... hi-hide... dropped a tier!”

Niu Ren wished he could shove his middle finger up the man’s nose. Even Xiao Chen and Dugu Jianmo felt like cursing. This bastard, shouting like that over nothing—truly perverse.

The white tiger nearly fainted from fury. His body trembled as he roared in rage. “Too much! Too much!” He hated Jin San Yi more than all the others and abandoned everyone to charge at the lecherous man.

Against all expectations, Jin San Yi charged forward instead of retreating. He leaped off his little donkey and, cleaver in hand, flew at the white tiger.

Ahead was the tiger’s massive head. The great maw gaped like a blood basin; gleaming white fangs were sharp as knives, about to swallow him.

Jin San Yi sprang up again, dodging the tiger’s mouth, and aimed his cleaver at the tiger’s eye. But he did not notice the tiger claws already tearing toward him.

The other three could not save him in time. They watched the claws rend Jin San Yi’s body—but the cleaver swung unerringly. Though it missed the eye, it carved a ghastly wound on the tiger’s skull.

No scream came from Jin San Yi, only a profoundly lecherous voice: “Scalped him!”

Xiao Chen, Dugu Jianmo, and Niu Ren were all stunned. Even the white tiger, in his searing pain, did not understand. But one thing was certain: the lecherous killer had not died. He instantly recoiled.

“Heh heh...” The lecherous man snickered. His torn body instantly reassembled, the cleaver flew back into his hand, and the little donkey charged in, carrying him to safety.

Everyone present was baffled.

“I-I-I forgot to tell you: my divine ability is... th-the Immortal Art!” The lecherous man grinned lewdly.

Everyone drew in a cold breath. The Immortal Art was an absolute top-tier divine ability, as freakish as the Twin Fate Birth technique! In fact, it was even more terrifying than Twin Fate Birth—enemies of the same level could not destroy him, and even older experts couldn’t seal or kill him unless their power vastly surpassed his.

“Freak!” Niu Ren cursed.

Enraged and disheartened, the white tiger realized he had broken into the demigod realm at twenty-five or twenty-six, yet in the ten years since had not advanced a single step. Now surrounded by several shockingly powerful young experts, he felt a surge of jealousy—they were more terrifying than he had been at their age. A dread crept over him.

Was he truly going to die here?

“Kill the tiger!”

The four young experts sealed the four directions and shouted together. This infuriated the white tiger. Finally, he raised his head and emitted a roar.

Blazing light shot to the heavens. The divine patterns on the white tiger’s body all emerged, floating in the sky like an ancient scripture. He cursed venomously: “None of you will escape! All of you die! White Tiger—World Annihilation!”

The tiger’s roar shook the sky, as if thousands of tigers were roaring together, like a flood breaking its banks, like a tsunami rolling across the heavens. The immense sound waves shattered the void continuously. White light boiled, flooding this region of the world.

Endless tiger roars combined, sounding like the recitation of a scripture, containing the tones of world-destruction!

“Unleash your strongest divine abilities!”

Xiao Chen shouted. The Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability manifested, and he shot out of the boiling white-light world like a light wave.

Dugu Jianmo, Niu Ren, and Jin San Yi, though equally unfathomable, could not match Xiao Chen’s speed. They were trapped at the edge of the white light. Still, they all unleashed their most powerful arts. Within the vast white firmament, it was impossible to see what became of them.

Not until half an hour later did the sky clear. Clear moonlight spilled down, and countless stars emerged.

In the sky, only a single dejected, enormous white tiger remained. Dugu Jianmo, Jin San Yi, Niu Ren, and the three mounts had all vanished.

Xiao Chen felt as though struck by lightning. An emptiness filled his heart.

The white tiger laughed heartily, triumphantly. “Hahaha—you little bastards are too green. When a demigod fights for his life, how could you possibly match me?”

“F-f-fuck your mother!” A stuttering but enraged curse came from the distant sky. “D-d-damn it! I-I’ve lost big! Twenty thousand... g-gold coins! A-a spatial scroll!”

Jin San Yi, Niu Ren, and Dugu Jianmo all reappeared unharmed, flying back from several li away on their dragons and donkey.

“Serves you right. You said killing him was like killing a cat. Your estimate was wrong—you nearly got us killed.” Niu Ren, riding the Black Dragon King, was still shaken. The white tiger’s annihilation strike had been utterly terrifying; only Jin San Yi’s timely spatial scroll had saved them.

The lecherous man grieved bitterly. “Th-that white tiger... once I sk-skin him, I’ll sell it for a good price! Or I’ll have lost for sure!”

The white tiger was now exhausted, his will to fight gone. He turned and fled. A severe illness ten years ago had left him greatly weakened, with little power to draw upon. He transformed into a beam of light and sped away.

“D-don’t let him escape!” The lecherous man panicked, spurring his donkey in hot pursuit.

There was no need for his urging. Xiao Chen unfurled the Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability and quickly pursued, far outstripping the other three.

At this critical moment, there was nothing left to hide. Even if Jin San Yi learned his identity, it no longer mattered.

Xiao Chen displayed one of the four fully-divine killing moves—the God-Slaying Hand!

Dazzling light, like the white tiger’s annihilation radiance moments before, flooded one corner of the sky. Countless blades and swords appeared throughout heaven and earth, while Xiao Chen’s hands themselves became left sword and right blade!

The peerlessly sharp heavenly sword and divine blade blazed in all directions. Sword and blade clashed, producing a kaleidoscopic clangor. From afar, that region of heaven was blinding—within the endless light, enormous phantoms of a heavenly blade and divine sword emerged, crossing like shears. Beams of lightning as thick as houses burst from the crossing point!

Thereafter, the clangor became the sole sound in heaven and earth!

That region seemed to boil. Boundless light turned it into a world of radiance.

Only after a long time did the sky and earth grow clear again. A massive white tiger corpse floated there, severed into two sections!

“Sc-scared me to death! I-I thought not even a hair would be left. Th-thankfully the corpse is intact!”

Niu Ren and Dugu Jianmo arrived too. The four experts gathered together. Even Dugu Jianmo allowed a faint smile to cross his face.

In the dark world, the stars glimmered. The white tiger’s corpse began to shift—the upper half of the tiger body transformed fully into human form, while only the lower half remained tiger.

“M-motherfucker! He’s ha-half-tiger!” Jin San Yi cursed angrily. “No wonder he was so weak. Still, the scriptures on ha-half-tiger hide are worth a fortune.”

Niu Ren knocked him on the head. “You stuttering bastard, you’re full of schemes. You mean he should have been stronger than this? Yet you told us he was nothing, as weak as a sick cat!”

“M-misunderstanding!” The lecherous man quickly put on a conciliatory smile.

Suddenly, from the distant horizon, surging killing intent rolled in. A mighty pressure made even the four experts’ hearts tremble!

“What’s happening?” The stutterer spoke smoothly, staring into the distance.

Xiao Chen and Dugu Jianmo wore grave expressions.

After a moment, they let out long breaths. It was not a single terrifying expert approaching—it was a group.

On the distant road, several hundred people rode all manner of nameless savage beasts, advancing slowly like heavenly soldiers and divine generals. They were all Westerners, their long hair like golden sunlight cascading over ancient armor.

At the center, a maiden astride a pure white unicorn seemed like an angel descending to the mortal world, indescribably ethereal and transcendent. Her beauty made the moon in the sky seem dim.

“Zhao Lin’er!” Xiao Chen was truly astonished.