The air fractured under the pressure of their combined auras. Flas, alchemical vapors, and sword-light churned together into a storm of killing intent that made the surrounding trees bow and splinter.
Tian Lei’s draconic eyes narrowed. They think this form is just for intimidation? Fine... let’s see how long their bravado lasts.
With a thunderous roar, the Ice Dragon’s wings beat once—sending a blizzard gale rushing outward. The Rising Sun Sect cultivator was the first to move, leaping into the air wreathed in golden fla. His blade ignited with a sunburst flare, cleaving through the cold winds in a single arc aid straight for Tian Lei’s head.
Before the strike could land, Tian Lei twisted his massive body with serpentine grace, the blade slicing only air. His tail whipped forward like a glacier-born hamr, smashing into the cultivator’s guard. The man coughed blood mid-flight as he was hurled through a cliff face, stone collapsing around him.
"Fei Rong!" the Alchemy Association disciple shouted, his hands already blurring through complex seals. Crimson mist erupted from his sleeves, solidifying into hundreds of razor-thin needles that streaked toward Tian Lei’s eyes and joints.
Tian Lei’s maw opened, revealing a swirling vortex of frost energy. He exhaled—an Ice Dragon’s Breath—freezing the mist mid-flight into glittering shards that clattered harmlessly to the ground. But the frozen mist carried sothing hidden...
A sudden explosion blood along his left flank as several needles, laced with explosive fire essence, detonated at once. The dragon’s scales shattered in a brief section, sending a shockwave of pain through Tian Lei’s body.
Crafty... but too slow.
From the shadows, Xiao Feng finally moved. His sword, black as midnight, appeared in his hand without a sound. Space itself seed to dim around him as he employed the Shadow-Step Sword—vanishing and reappearing an instant later above Tian Lei’s neck, blade descending in a killing stroke.
But Tian Lei had been waiting for him. His eyes flared like twin glacial stars, and in that frozen light, Xiao Feng’s movents slowed—as if the air itself had solidified.
"Frozen Domain," Tian Lei’s voice rumbled like thunder.
The world within fifty ters turned to ice. Fla dimd, breath froze midair, and every heartbeat echoed in crystalline clarity. Xiao Feng’s killing strike descended sluggishly now, the blade scraping harmlessly against the Ice Dragon’s reinforced neck scales.
With a twist of his massive body, Tian Lei slamd into Xiao Feng midair, sending him crashing into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.
The Rising Sun cultivator staggered free from the rubble, blood matting his hair, and scread, "Together! Overwhelm him!"
A blazing spear of pure solar fire ford in his hands as Liu Long hurled more alchemical constructs—rotating spheres of liquid fla bound by tal rings. Xiao Feng, coughing blood, still managed to channel his killing intent into a condensed blade strike that made the air wail.
Three attacks converged.
Tian Lei didn’t evade. Instead, his dragon form coiled tight, scales pulsing with deep azure light. When the attacks hit, the entire clearing vanished into an explosion of steam, fire, and ice shards.
The mist thinned, and the battlefield ca back into focus.
There it was—the colossal ice dragon, coils stretching for hundreds of ters, its crystalline scales gleaming like frozen starlight. Not a single crack, scratch, or blemish marred its body. It had endured everything thrown at it without so much as flinching.
The three cultivators froze. That kind of power... that kind of resilience... this was not an opponent they could even dream of facing head-on.
"Run!" one of them shouted.
They scattered in different directions, desperate to escape.
The dragon’s eyes narrowed. Its massive chest swelled, and an icy light began to burn in its throat. With a sound like glaciers splitting, it unleashed a breath of pure frost. The air itself froze solid, chasing the fleeing figures until they were caught mid-stride, encased in crystal ice. The pressure within the frost was too great—their bodies shattered instantly, scattering as fragnts of bloodied ice across the frozen ground.
Only Xiao Feng remained, standing frozen in both body and mind, the cold locking his breath in his lungs.
The dragon lowered its head until its golden pupils filled Xiao Feng’s vision. But instead of ending him, it exhaled a gentler breath—frost that wrapped around him, hardening into an unyielding shell. His body was drawn toward the dragon’s chest, vanishing in a flash of light.
Tian Lie’s voice echoed coldly in his mind:"You’ll be dealt with later."
Inside the Golden Fortune Realm, Xiao Feng’s frozen form was sealed away, untouched but utterly powerless.
Satisfied, the dragon turned its gaze back toward the corpses of the other two. A single rumbling growl seed to mark the end of the hunt. Then, with a slow ripple through its massive fra, the ice dragon’s body began to collapse inward, scales folding into nothingness until only Tian Lie remained—human once more.
This ti, his clothes were pristine, his aura perfectly calm, not a trace of battle’s wear on his body. He stood in the silent wasteland, the corpses of his foes around him, as if the slaughter had been nothing more than a passing exercise.
"I’ll have my revenge in due ti," Tian Lie murmured coldly.
Before leaving, Tian Lei walked over to the shattered remains of the two cultivators. With a casual wave of his hand, their storage rings snapped free and floated toward him. He examined the contents quickly—spirit pills, rare alchemical elixirs, and even several poison pills.
"Hmm... so cultivation techniques too," he muttered, nodding to himself. He also took the Trial Tokens they had earned, adding them to his own growing reserve. Without hesitation, he turned and resud making progress toward completing his own trial, occasionally glancing down at the talisman in his palm.
The Immortal Secret Realm was vast—upon entering, most participants were separated from their teammates. These talismans were given precisely for that reason: within a ten-kiloter radius, they could be activated to locate each other and reunite. Unfortunately, Tian Lei had yet to encounter anyone familiar.
"I hope they’re doing fine..." he murmured. He had placed an Arcane Mark on them before they split up—a spell from the Magus King that not only let him track their position but also teleport to them directly. At the ti, he thought it would be a great advantage and will help him keep his team mates safe so he marked them sneakily.
Over the past month, Tian Lei had accumulated an enormous haul—over ten thousand Trial Tokens in total. About ten percent ca from beasts he’d slain; the rest were from cultivators who had tried to ambush him and ended up losing everything instead.
When he finally sensed a familiar presence through the Arcane Mark, he imdiately teleported. In an instant, the world blurred—and he reappeared a hundred ters behind Xiao Rou. He didn’t approach right away, instead keeping his distance to scan the area. His eyes swept the surroundings, reading the subtle traces in the air and the faint disturbances in the ground. Soon he saw her fighting a big black bear like spirit beast as he sighed in relief.
"At least she’s safe..." he thought, watching her from the shadows.
He didn’t intervene—it could very well be part of her trial. Besides, she had already noticed him and subtly motioned for him to stay put. Tian Lei nodded, remaining where he was. Monts later, Xiao Rou’s sword flashed in a clean arc, severing the beast’s neck. Its body collapsed to the ground, lifeblood spilling over the grass. She bent down, retrieving the Trial Token it had dropped.
"Tian Lei, it’s really you," she said with a faint smile. "Let’s move—we have to keep going."
"But what were you Trial?" he asked as they started walking.
"It was to hunt down a Fifth Stage Spirit-awakening realm beast," she replied matter-of-factly.
"Alright, then let’s do it together while we move," Tian Lei agreed.
Xiao Rou nodded but didn’t hide the way she leaned slightly into his presence as they walked. He kept a protective watch, scanning their surroundings. At one point, they ca across a strange patch of liquefied, foul-slling soil—the earth looked decayed, almost rotting from within. When she caught sight of it, her expression shifted.
"Tian Lei, we have run into a troubleso opponent" she said softly, her gaze locked ahead.
A massive shadow moved in the distance.
"That’s the Death-Tailed Scorpius," she whispered, gripping her weapon.
Tian Lei’s eyes narrowed as the colossal beast erged—its obsidian carapace glinting, venomous tail arched high.
"A Fifth Stage Spirit-Warrior Realm beast," Xiao Rou confird.
Tian Lei smirked faintly. "My target."
"Huh?" Xiao Rou blinked. She had been about to suggest they just run away, but his words caught her off guard. Did that an he was at the Fifth Stage Spirit-Warrior Realm Trial?
"How strong... are you, exactly?" she asked, still stunned.
Tian Lei didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, he simply stepped forward, his palm resting lightly on the hilt at his side. The Death-Tailed Scorpius hissed, tail poised to strike. In the next instant, his blade flashed—a clean, decisive cut, so fast it seed the air itself hadn’t registered the strike yet.
The beast froze mid-lunge. Then, as if realizing too late what had happened, its massive fra split neatly at the neck. The body collapsed, dissolving into motes of light before condensing into a single trial token.
Tian Lei bent down, picked it up, and with a calm expression, and pocketed it.
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