“Reverse-Saint genius!” Even Wang Qi’s cheek twitched. From the very first glance he had sensed that Lin Xiao was no ordinary person, yet he had never imagined the man would be monstrous to this degree.
Even within their Wang family, no one could compare.
Was he really just a rogue cultivator?
Since when did rogue cultivators become this freakish?
The Ninth Layer Martial Emperor elder beside him and everyone else were equally stunned.
They all knew how terrifyingly accurate their young master Wang Qi’s judgement was, so even if they themselves had seen nothing special in Lin Xiao, they would have believed Wang Qi’s assessment.
But this far exceeded anything they had expected.
Lin Xiao naturally paid no attention to their thoughts. He charged straight ahead through the sky, swinging the Nether Heaven Demonic Pillar once more and smashing into another flock of avian beasts nearby.
That group immediately unleashed their own attacks.
Wang Qi and the elder seized the opening to strike as well.
In every direction, fierce clashes erupted again. The Wang family’s two half-step Martial Saints had already closed with the two half-step Martial Saint spirit phoenixes and were locked in brutal close-quarters combat.
The phoenixes possessed slightly greater combat strength, forcing the two human elders back again and again.
Yet these were Wang family half-step Martial Saints, wielders of supreme techniques. They were not seriously wounded by the phoenixes.
Later, both phoenixes directly assumed human form, drew weapons, and continued trading blows with the elders.
The rest of the humans plunged into the flocks and fought at close range. Because the individual avian beasts were relatively weak, and because of a monster like Lin Xiao, after roughly an hour of battle, the hundreds upon hundreds of birds fell one after another. In the end only the two half-step Martial Saint spirit phoenixes remained.
Those two phoenixes were extremely powerful. They erupted with flames that wounded both human elders.
Yet even after fighting to the bitter end they could not finish the humans off. Seeing the rest of the Wang team free themselves, the phoenixes hastily repelled the elders and fled toward the horizon.
“Count yourselves lucky this time!” Their angry roars echoed back.
No one gave chase. Spirit phoenixes were simply too fast; pursuit was impossible.
Moreover, apart from a few, everyone present had sustained injuries.
The Seventh Layer and Eighth Layer Martial Emperor youths were the most badly hurt.
Fortunately, the Wang team coordinated perfectly and no one had died.
Once the enemy withdrew, the group immediately swallowed healing pills and began recovering.
At this point every member of the Wang family turned to look at Lin Xiao.
“I truly never expected Brother Lin Xiao’s strength to be this terrifying. A genuine Reverse-Saint genius!” one of the half-step Martial Saint elders exclaimed in admiration.
The way everyone now looked at Lin Xiao had completely changed.
“Senior flatters me,” Lin Xiao replied, sweeping his gaze across the area. “The commotion here was too great. We should leave first and speak later.”
Everyone nodded without argument.
Indeed, the disturbance had been enormous. It would definitely attract attention. If stronger beast clans arrived, or if someone decided to take advantage, they would be in serious danger.
Thus the group immediately flew off in another direction.
“With Brother Lin Xiao’s strength, seizing a Zitan Spirit Lotus won’t be difficult at all. I imagine Brother Lin won’t give up this opportunity, yes?” Wang Qi asked with a smile as they travelled.
Lin Xiao admitted honestly, “I do intend to try.”
“In that case, travel with us. We can watch each other’s backs. As for the spirit lotuses, there is more than one. Whoever obtains them will depend on individual fortune,” Wang Qi said.
Lin Xiao nodded in agreement. Travelling with the Wang group was not a bad thing; after all, he did not know the route to the Zitan.
After moving to a new location and recovering for roughly two hours, everyone’s injuries were mostly healed, and the team set off once more.
The journey afterward was relatively calm. They occasionally encountered weaker spirit beasts, which the group dispatched with ease.
Over the next few days of cautious travel, Lin Xiao chatted with the Wang family members and learned a great deal from them.
For example, the six great beast clans of the continent.
They were:
– Spirit Phoenix Clan
– Heaven-Tyrant Crab Clan
– Tianluo Spirit Snail Clan
– Bimu Clan
– Nine-Nether Zhi Clan
– Winged Ox Clan
The Spirit Phoenix Clan headquarters lay on the border between Southern Yan Province and Sacred Province. They were practically neighbours with the Wang family, so part of the Wang family’s forces were permanently stationed to keep watch on them.
The Heaven-Tyrant Crab Clan supposedly carried the bloodline of the ancient ferocious beast Heaven-Tyrant. Both defence and combat strength were terrifying. Their headquarters was at the border between Southwest Zhu Province and Sacred Province.
The Tianluo Spirit Snail Clan was located in Western Hao Province.
The Bimu Clan was in the north-northwest part of Sacred Province, the closest to their current location.
The Nine-Nether Zhi Clan was in Northwest You Province.
The Winged Ox Clan was in the northeast of Sacred Province.
Apart from the Bimu and Winged Ox Clans, whose main territories lay within Sacred Province itself, the other four great beast clans maintained branches in Sacred Province, just like the eight great human clans.
That was how they had been able to arrive so quickly.
Naturally, clans like the Nine-Nether Zhi and Winged Ox were simply too far away; even with branches here, they probably could not reach this forest in time.
Besides the six great beast clans, there were other spirit-beast races whose strength was no less impressive.
Three in particular were said to rival the six great clans:
– Kunshan Lizard of Eastern Cang Province
– Demon Frog Clan of northwest Sacred Province
– Spirit Jackal Clan of northeast Min Province
The Kunshan Lizard and Demon Frog Clan possessed monstrous individual strength. Their peak experts were even stronger than those of the six great clans.
However, their numbers were too few to rank alongside them.
Yet they remained beast forces that every major human power feared.
The Spirit Jackal Clan was the exact opposite. Their numbers were astronomical, possibly greater than the combined total of the six great clans.
But because they lacked true top-tier experts, they were not counted among the six great clans.
Still, their sheer numbers made every human power wary. No one took the Spirit Jackals lightly.
Any one of these nine great beast clans, if pushed to all-out war, would result in pyrrhic victory at best: a thousand enemy dead for every enemy slain.
Thus no human power wished to wage total war against the beast clans.
The eleven overlord human forces competed amongst themselves and could never fully unite against the beasts. With factions like Canglong Gate and Sacred Heaven Gate constantly mediating, the power structure of the Central Continent was in fact extremely complicated.
Lin Xiao silently pondered all this.
When the time came to rescue his mother, should he build his own faction, or gather various allies?
Ideas were already forming in his mind.
Half a day later, Lin Xiao and the twelve Wang family members reached another stretch of ancient, verdant forest. This area was unusually flat; for hundreds of li around there was not a single mountain to be seen.
“We’re almost there. Everyone stay sharp,” Wang Qi warned the group.
They all drew their long blades and grew vigilant.
