Chapter 58: Slaying the Flood Dragon Thirty Li Away
"He's... he's... he's..."
Yu Wei could barely contain himself, spraying tea onto the snack plate in front of him. Pointing at the spot where Li Hao had just vanished, his eyes bulged in disbelief, his words stumbling out incoherently.
"Gone? He's gone?!"
Du Qiuyue, equally stunned, leapt to her feet, her face a mask of shock. "Where did he go?"
Beside them, Ren Qianqian froze as well. Her gaze swept swiftly and thoroughly in all directions, but there was no trace of Li Hao—not even footprints.
In the blink of an eye, right before their eyes, he had simply disappeared.
Clearly, unless it was some illusionary technique she had never heard of, the only explanation was that Li Hao's movement technique was so fast that it defied her ability to track it.
If he used such speed to attack her... Her pupils narrowed slightly, and her grip on her sword's scabbard tightened instinctively.
"He... he... this... this..." Yu Wei turned to Li Yuanzhao, gesticulating wildly and looking utterly flustered.
"Yuanzhao, just what level of cultivation is your Brother Hao at?" Du Qiuyue asked as she slowly calmed down, unable to suppress her curiosity.
Li Yuanzhao was equally dumbfounded. He had spent a lot of time with Brother Hao, but he'd never seen him demonstrate such a skill.
What cultivation level? Brother Hao was supposed to be on the path of body refinement. His mother had said that body refinement had a low ceiling, barely reaching the Zhoutian Realm at best. Achieving the Soul Fusion Realm was considered extremely difficult.
Could it be that Brother Hao had broken into the Soul Fusion Realm?!
Li Yuanzhao's heart trembled. He wasn’t entirely ignorant—stepping into the Soul Fusion Realm meant Li Hao could channel the energy of heaven and earth, indicating unimpeded meridians.
Brother Hao could cultivate now!
The thought sent a wave of excitement through him, and his hand trembled slightly as it rested on the table...
...
Meanwhile, fifteen li away...
The Black-Scaled Demoness, shocked by what she saw, wondered if her eyes were deceiving her. Just as she questioned herself, she saw Li Hao step out of the roadside tea stand and streak toward her like a golden bolt of lightning.
So fast!
And not just fast—he was flying with his body!
The Black-Scaled Demoness’s expression changed drastically, horror filling her features. This was a hallmark of the Fifteen Li Realm! Could the Marquis Xingwu's son truly be in the Fifteen Li Realm?!
How old was he?!
Her mind went momentarily blank. What she had thought would be a simple task—killing someone from fifteen li away with a single strike of her scale—had turned into something completely incomprehensible.
A chilling sense of imminent death washed over her, snapping her back to reality. Without thinking, she turned to flee, desperate to reunite with her husband.
A flash of black light surrounded her as she soared skyward, intending to escape into the distance.
Yet before she had flown more than a few hundred meters above the treetops, a streak of golden light descended from above. From within the light emerged a pale, slender hand, which slammed down on the top of the Black-Scaled Demoness’s head, pressing her straight into the ground dozens of meters below.
With a loud crash, a massive crater formed in the earth.
On the ground, the Black-Scaled Demoness’s head was pinned into the dirt by Li Hao’s hand, her expression one of utter humiliation.
Horrified beyond measure, she felt the hand on her head—like iron, as if a thousand mountains were pressing down on her. She couldn’t move at all.
This... this wasn’t power that belonged to the Fifteen Li Realm!
She let out a shrill roar, as loud as a thunderclap, her entire body radiating black demonic energy as she reverted to her true form.
A massive, ferocious flood dragon head emerged from the mist, its jaws snapping toward Li Hao. But before it could close, a fine, embroidered boot shot out from the golden light, stomping mercilessly onto her head.
With a resounding crash, the enormous dragon head was forcibly crushed into the ground.
Her thick, muscular tail whipped around violently, sweeping toward Li Hao.
Without turning, Li Hao casually swung his fist backward.
A deep thud echoed through the air as over ten million jin of force slammed into the tail, sending its scales flying and the tail recoiling heavily onto the ground.
A pained roar, muffled as though her jaws couldn’t fully open, emanated from beneath his foot.
As the breeze scattered the surrounding demonic mist, Li Hao stood with one foot planted firmly on the flood dragon's head. Resting a hand on his knee, he studied the creature beneath him.
"Ambush me? Surely, you weren't just trying to kill someone. Who sent you?" Li Hao asked softly, narrowing his eyes.
His tone carried no anger, but the Black-Scaled Demoness felt a chill spread through her entire body.
"Who... who are you?" she stammered, her mouth barely able to move, her voice filled with terror.
In a single exchange, she had been completely subdued. Could he be in the Heaven and Man Realm?!
Doubts flooded her mind. Perhaps their assassination attempt had already been discovered by the Divine General Mansion, and this was a decoy to lure them in.
"There were so many people at the tea stand, yet you aimed directly at me. Are you sure you don’t know who I am?"
Li Hao let out a faint chuckle. Apart from his appearance, he didn’t think he had anything particularly striking about him.
If this was an attempt against the Divine General Mansion, they must have come prepared.
"You’re really the son of Marquis Xingwu? That’s impossible. Your age can’t be faked—Marquis Xingwu’s son is only fourteen this year, but you’re in the Fifteen Li Realm!"
The Black-Scaled Demoness’s voice grew increasingly incredulous, tinged with a mix of anger and despair.
Fourteen years old, in the Fifteen Li Realm?
Even the most exceptional geniuses with a Ninth-Class Battle Body would struggle to reach the Spiritual Wandering Realm at that age!
"You know my father?" Li Hao raised an eyebrow, his mind drifting back to the assassination attempt he had survived at seven years old. His gaze turned cold. "Were you sent by the demon clans in Yanbei?"
Though he could have killed the demoness back at the tea stand, he had pursued her to uncover her motives.
"You’re really his son?!"
Hearing his words, the Black-Scaled Demoness stared at him in shock, trying to get a better look at his youthful face.
Li Hao pressed down slightly with his foot, his voice turning icy. "Speak. What’s the situation in Yanbei? Why has the stalemate lasted so long? Are the demon clans unaware of the Great Yu Dynasty’s strength? Even without my Li family, breaking through would provoke reinforcements from the Divine General Mansions, not to mention the Great Yu Army personally led by the royal family. Are you demons that desperate?"
"Don’t pretend the human race is united as one. Conquering Yanbei is just the first step."
The Black-Scaled Demoness sneered, but quickly realized her mistake and glared angrily. "With your talent, you could have joined a prestigious sect, become renowned across the land. Why hide your strength and pretend to be a waste?"
The first step? Li Hao frowned. The demons in Yanbei seemed to have greater ambitions—did they aim to devour the entire Great Yu Dynasty?
How absurd. The number of demons required would be unimaginable.
He fixed his gaze on the Black-Scaled Demoness. "Hide my strength? I simply never had the chance to showcase it. When I fished up a flood dragon at twelve, you weren’t there to see it. Can you blame me? If you cooperate, I might even consider sparing your life."
"Twelve years old and fishing up a flood dragon?" The Black-Scaled Demoness froze, her heart sinking. She was so shocked that she couldn’t speak.
"Have you made up your mind? You’ve cultivated for so long; don’t throw your life away so easily," Li Hao said.
The demoness snapped back to reality, her fear mounting. At this point, her only thought was survival. She had to escape and deliver this terrifying intelligence.
If Bai Shenjun learned of this child’s talent, he would spare no effort to eliminate him, regardless of the situation in Yanbei.
The demoness had thought sending her and her husband was an overreaction, a foolproof plan to leave no survivors. She now realized they had grossly underestimated their target—not the Divine General Mansion’s defenses, but the prey itself.
Seeing her silence, Li Hao muttered to himself, "Very well. If you want to die, I haven’t eaten flood dragon meat in ages. Today, I’ll take your liver. I wonder if you’ve fattened up nicely."
The Black-Scaled Demoness’s pupils contracted. It was as if a devil was whispering above her.
Only demons ate humans. Yet this boy wanted to eat her—not her core, but just her liver for its flavor?
"Husband, save me!"
Seeing Li Hao about to make his move, the Black-Scaled Demoness cried out desperately...
"Another one?" Li Hao frowned slightly, sensing the presence of another demon. His soul shot out from the top of his head, scanning the area. Soon, his gaze landed thirty li away, on a distant hill where a fierce battle raged.
A massive flood dragon was locked in combat with two figures.
Li Hao had noticed the two long ago—one was Fu Bo, who had accompanied him on this journey.
The other was a stranger, likely someone sent by Ren Qianqian’s backers.
The battle was perilous. Fu Bo was already injured and could only assist from the sidelines.
"Let me borrow your scale."
A glint of killing intent flashed in Li Hao’s eyes as he leaned down, plucked a scale from the Black-Scaled Demoness’s head, and flung it with all his might. The scale became a streak of black light and vanished into the horizon.
The Black-Scaled Demoness stared blankly, then cried out in horror, "What... what are you doing?!"
...
Thirty li away.
The two combatants were being pushed back repeatedly. Li Fu, his face pale, hadn’t expected to encounter such a formidable demon—a massive flood dragon in the Fifteen Li Realm. With only a Spiritual Wandering Realm cultivation, he struggled even to escape. Fortunately, the other combatant, a cultivator in the Fifteen Li Realm, was aiding him.
But the situation was dire. The demon had devoured his earlier distress signal, leaving them with no way to call for help.
"Die!"
The black flood dragon roared fiercely, slamming the burly man down the hillside. It was about to swoop down and tear him apart when a sharp whistling sound filled the air.
"Huh?"
The flood dragon turned its head, its pupils reflecting a black scale hurtling toward it at incredible speed.
With a deafening crack, the scale pierced through its eye and tore into its brain, shredding its internal tissues.
The dragon let out a massive spray of blood, its other eye filled with disbelief. It recognized the scale—it was its mate’s. But how...?
With a loud thud, the black flood dragon collapsed, its life rapidly fading away.
Slaying a flood dragon thirty li away with a single scale.