"He's... he's...," Yu Wei couldn't help but spill his tea on the snack plate as he pointed to where Li Hao had just vanished. His eyes were wide, and he was stammering as he tried to speak.
"Is he... gone?!" Du Qiuyue was also startled and jumped up, staring blankly. "Where did he go?"
Beside them, Ren Qianqian was frozen in place, her eyes darting around, searching carefully, but she couldn't find any trace of Li Hao, not even a footprint.
In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared right before their eyes.
Clearly, unless it was some kind of illusion she had never heard of, it meant Li Hao's speed was simply too fast for her to catch.
If he could attack with that kind of speed... Her pupils slightly contracted as she tightened her grip on the sword sheath, applying more force than before.
"He... he... this..." Yu Wei turned to look at Li Yuanzhao, flailing his arms, clearly not calm at all.
"Yuanzhao, what kind of cultivation level does your Brother Hao have?" Du Qiuyue managed to regain some composure and couldn't help but ask Li Yuanzhao.
Li Yuanzhao was just as stunned. He had spent time with Brother Hao, but he had never seen him show such skills before.
What kind of cultivation? Wasn't Brother Hao following the path of body refinement? His mother said the limit for body refinement was low, and at most, he could reach the Zhou Tian realm; reaching the Spirit Realm would be difficult.
Could it be that Brother Hao had reached the Spirit Realm?!
Li Yuanzhao's heart trembled. He wasn't completely clueless; if Li Hao had stepped into the Spirit Realm, it would mean he could draw energy from the heavens and earth, which indicated his meridians were unblocked!
Brother Hao could cultivate!!
Thinking of this possibility, Li Yuanzhao's hands resting on the table began to tremble with excitement.
...
Meanwhile, fifteen miles away.
The black serpent woman was shocked and couldn't help but question if she had seen it wrong. Just as she was pondering, she saw Li Hao step out from the tea stall and then rush toward her like a bolt of golden lightning.
So fast!
And he was flying!
The black serpent woman's face changed dramatically, filled with horror. This was the symbol of the fifteen-mile realm! The son of the X刑武侯 was at the fifteen-mile realm?!!
How old could he be?!
Her mind went blank for a moment. She thought it would be an easy task to kill him from fifteen miles away with a single strike, but now, this unbelievable situation had occurred.
A strong sense of impending doom suddenly enveloped her. The black serpent woman quickly snapped back to reality, not thinking too much, and instinctively turned to flee, wanting to meet up with her husband first.
With a flash of dark light, she took off, heading into the distance.
But before she had even flown a few hundred meters above the treetops, a golden light suddenly descended from the sky. A long, fair hand reached out from the golden light, pressing down on the top of the black serpent woman's head, then forcefully pushing her straight down to the ground dozens of meters below.
With a loud bang, a massive pit was created in the ground.
On the ground, the black serpent woman's head was pressed into the dirt by Li Hao's hand, her expression a mess.
The black serpent woman was terrified, feeling the hand on her head was like steel, as if a thousand mountains were pressing down on her, leaving her unable to move.
How could this possibly be the strength of someone at the fifteen-mile realm?!
She let out a sharp roar, like a bull's bellow or thunder, her entire body of black mist swirling, revealing her true form.
A huge, fierce serpent head broke through the mist, turning to bite, but in the next moment, a beautifully embroidered boot shot out from the mist, mercilessly stomping down on the serpent's head, with a loud bang, forcing the massive serpent head deep into the ground.
The thick serpent tail lashed out from behind.
Li Hao didn't turn around; he simply swung his fist back casually.
With a deep thud, an overwhelming force struck the serpent's tail, instantly causing its scales to dent and fall off. The tail slammed back down onto the ground.
A painful cry like a beast's roar erupted from beneath his feet, but it seemed the mouth couldn't fully open, producing a very muffled sound.
A gentle breeze swept through, dispersing the surrounding mist. Li Hao stood with one foot on the uneven top of the serpent's head, his other hand resting on his knee, carefully examining the serpent demon beneath him.
"Trying to sneak attack me? You don't just want to kill me, do you? Who sent you?"
Li Hao squinted and asked softly.
There was no anger in his voice, but the black serpent felt a chill run down her spine.
"Who... who are you?"
She could barely open her mouth, fearfully asking.
In just one encounter, she had been completely suppressed. Could he be at the Celestial Realm?!
At this moment, she already suspected that their assassination plan had long been known to the Divine General's mansion. This was a trap, a counter-trap.
"There were so many people at the tea stall, and you just targeted me. Don't you know who I am?"
Li Hao chuckled coldly, thinking that aside from his appearance, there shouldn't be anything else about him that made him stand out from others.
If this was aimed at the Divine General's mansion, then they must have been prepared.
"You really are the son of the X刑武侯? How is that possible? You can't fake your age. The son of the X刑武侯 is only fourteen this year, but you're at the fifteen-mile realm!"
The black serpent woman said in disbelief, her voice even carrying a hint of anger and grievance toward the end.
Fourteen years old, at the fifteen-mile realm?
Even the top geniuses of the ninth-grade battle body would find it terrifying to reach the Spirit Realm at this age!
"Do you know my father?"
Li Hao raised an eyebrow, suddenly recalling the assassination attempt he faced at the age of seven. His eyes narrowed. "You aren't from the demon clan in Yanbei, are you?"
He could have killed this demon at the tea stall, but he personally chased after her to understand the reason behind it.
"You really are his son?!"
The black serpent woman was shocked to hear Li Hao's words, her serpent eyes widening as she strained to look at the young man's face again.
Li Hao pressed down slightly harder, coldly saying, "Tell me, what's going on in Yanbei? Why has it been at a standstill for so many years? Don't you demons know the strength of the Dayu Dynasty? Even without our Li family, if you really tore a hole, other Divine General mansions would send reinforcements, and the Dayu army, led by the Dayu royal family, could mobilize at any time. Are you demons really that hungry?"
"Don't act like your human race is a solid block. Taking Yanbei is just the first step."
The black serpent woman sneered, but then realized she had misspoken. She quickly turned angry and said, "With your talent, you could easily join a famous mountain to cultivate and make a name for yourself. Why hide your strength and pretend to be useless?!"
The first step? Li Hao frowned. It sounded like the demon forces attacking Yanbei were quite substantial, wanting to swallow the entire Dayu?
How could that be possible? How many demons would it take to work together for that?
He stared down at the black serpent woman and said, "Hide my strength? I just haven't had the chance to show it off. I caught a serpent when I was twelve; you didn't see that, can you blame me? If you cooperate honestly, I might consider letting you go."
"At twelve, you caught a serpent?" The black serpent woman was taken aback, feeling a chill in her heart, shocked into silence.
"Have you thought it through? It's not easy for you to cultivate, don't give up easily," Li Hao said.
The black serpent woman snapped back to reality, fear gripping her heart. She had only one thought now: she had to survive and bring this terrifying information back.
If the White God knew about this child's talent, even without the matter of Yanbei, he would go to any lengths to kill him, or he would become a great threat in the future.
She initially thought sending them over was overkill, not wanting to leave any chance for the opponent, but now she realized she had vastly underestimated the situation.
It wasn't about underestimating the protection of the Divine General's mansion, but underestimating the prey itself!
Seeing the black serpent woman silent, Li Hao muttered to himself, "Well, do you want to die? It's been a while since I've had serpent meat. Today, I'll take your liver and see how fat and tasty it is."
The black serpent woman's pupils shrank, feeling as if a demon was whispering above her head.
Only demons eat humans, and this boy actually wanted to eat a demon, and not just the inner core, but simply for its liver's taste?
"Husband, save me!"
Seeing that Li Hao was about to make a move, the black serpent woman shouted desperately.
"Huh?" Li Hao paused, realizing there was another one?
He felt a chill in his heart, his spirit flying out from above his head to scan the surroundings. Soon, he spotted a fierce battle happening thirty miles away on a hill.
A large, strong black serpent was fighting against two people.
Li Hao had already noticed the two fighting the black serpent; he had been following them all along. One of them was Uncle Fu.
The other one, he didn’t recognize. He guessed it must be someone sent by Ren Qianqian.
At this moment, their situation was extremely dangerous. Uncle Fu had already been injured and could only assist from the side.
"Let me borrow a scale from you."
A murderous intent flashed in Li Hao's eyes as he bent down and plucked a scale from the top of the black serpent woman's head. He suddenly flung it out, transforming it into a streak of dark light that vanished into the horizon.
The black serpent woman was taken aback, then horrified: "What are you doing?!"
Thirty miles away.
The two engaged in a fierce battle were retreating step by step. Li Fu's face was pale, not expecting to encounter a fifteen-mile realm great demon here. With only the Spirit Realm cultivation, escaping was difficult. Thankfully, there was another fifteen-mile realm person assisting him.
But the situation was not optimistic. The distress signal he had previously sent out had been eaten by this great demon, leaving him to think of other ways.
"Die!"
The black serpent roared menacingly, slamming down the burly man off the hill. Just as it was about to dive down and tear him apart, a sound of something cutting through the air suddenly came.
"Huh?"
The black serpent turned in surprise, and in its pupils, it saw a dark scale rapidly enlarging.
With a loud bang, it struck its eye at a terrifying speed, then quickly stirred within its skull, destroying all brain tissue!
The black serpent spat out a mouthful of blood, its other eye filled with disbelief. It recognized the dark light; it was Xuanmei's scale, but how could...
With a thunderous sound, the black serpent plummeted down, its life force rapidly fading.
One scale slays a serpent thirty miles away.
(End of Chapter)