Chapter 162: The Forest of Eight Trigrams Steles

"Behold, the tomb of the legendary Madman has appeared, and someone has found the entrance!"

"It has finally manifested, the tomb of the Madman!"

"He slaughtered all in the Demon-Suppressing Realm and bathed the Myriad Realms Ridge in a frenzy of blood! He is the hero of our human race!"

At this moment, not only was Luo Hao's heart burning with passion, but the towering pillar of spiritual light, piercing the ninefold firmament, also commanded the gaze of everyone present.

"Lord Demon Child, that person's tomb has manifested!" In a tranquil stretch of mountain forest, the alluringly dressed Ling Mo gazed with a moved expression at the pillar of light piercing the heavens, speaking respectfully to Yao Ming, who had been sitting cross-legged nearby for nearly three days.

"Clang!"

A pair of eyes snapped open, shooting forth two beams of brilliant light. The giant boulder beneath Yao Ming instantly shattered into powder. He rose to his feet, casting a complex gaze at the heaven-reaching pillar of light. "Let's go!"

Ling Mo watched Yao Ming's receding figure and let out a silent sigh. For three whole days since he was wounded, Yao Ming had spoken only those few words. She did not know what thoughts occupied his mind, nor did she dare to guess.

A figure of Yao Ming's caliber possessed his own towering pride, yet she could not fathom how the Demon Child—who had seemed destined for victory—was ultimately gravely wounded by a single roar from a human. Had she not witnessed it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it, even in death.

At that moment, countless people looked up toward the heaven-reaching pillar of light. From the depths of a deep, dark pool of water, a figure burst forth. Boundless flashes of lightning danced across his body with a terrifying momentum. As the crackling arcs of lightning flickered, they completely dried his clothes without causing the slightest damage.

This person was none other than the Little Thunder King of the Thunder Platform Sect. Having witnessed the battle between Luo Hao and Yao Ming, he had been profoundly shaken. Yao Ming's overwhelming, all-conquering power was chilling to the bone; had Luo Hao not possessed a trump card to startle him into retreating, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"After all, I fell just short of perfection. It's a pity there is no heavenly lightning here, otherwise I could have guided the heavenly lightning into my body!" The Little Thunder King exhaled a breath.

For the past three days, he had remained at the bottom of the deep pool to cultivate, using the water pressure to continually force his potential outward, while employing the characteristic fusion of lightning and water to constantly comprehend his own martial arts.

At the edge of a towering, sheer cliff, a slender figure sat cross-legged, a three-foot-long sword lying flat across his lap. With the appearance of the heaven-reaching pillar of light, this dormant figure instantly transformed into a battle-sword unsheathed, its sharp edge blindingly exposed. Above his head, sword Qi surged for three thousand miles, and an ocean of swords faintly materialized.

"It is time. What must come will eventually come." At the edge of the precipice, Sword Son Jiang Jianli took a single step forward. A streak of sword light surged beneath his feet, and in an instant, he vanished a thousand miles away.

"It seems many people have been cultivating desperately these past three days!" Luo Hao walked side by side with Ji Rou, sensing the presence of numerous martial artists along the way.

They no longer concealed their aura; their might was displayed without reserve. In truth, there was no longer any need to hold back. After all, the tomb had manifested, and a fierce dragon-and-tiger struggle was now inevitable.

The heaven-reaching pillar of light originated from the center of a basin. When Luo Hao and Ji Rou arrived in the vicinity, the elevated terrain surrounding the basin was already occupied by numerous martial artists. Upon seeing the young man and woman walking side by side, everyone's gaze tightened.

"It's the Battle Demon Luo Hao, run!"

Some martial artists quietly retreated into the crowd. They had once pursued Luo Hao in the Land of Myriad Fires. However, after the battle with Yao Ming, they had grown utterly terrified of this fierce entity.

Are you kidding? That was the Battle Demon, who remained uninjured, who had beheaded the Bone Clan, slaughtered the Demon Clan, and fought desperately against an ancient True Dragon. His terrifying reputation had long since spread far and wide; should he decide to take revenge, who could possibly stop him?

"Strange, am I really that terrifying?" Seeing many human martial artists quietly retreating from the highlands, Luo Hao chuckled bitterly and looked helplessly at Ji Rou.

Ji Rou merely covered her lips and smiled lightly. Luo Hao had long since decided not to settle scores regarding the past pursuit; after all, taking advantage of someone's misfortune was something he would have done himself in their shoes.

Standing on the highland, Luo Hao observed that the place was surrounded by mountains on all sides, dipping downward in the middle to form a natural basin. Inside the basin, towering boulders stood like a stone forest, stretching across the entire landscape as far as the eye could see.

Even more wondrously, these standing boulders distinctly formed the pattern of the Eight Trigrams. At the very center of the basin, dragons and tigers intertwined, and a pillar of light pierced the firmament, shattering the clouds.

"Hmph, murderous intent!" Suddenly, Luo Hao's gaze turned icy as he looked toward a highland encircling the basin in the distance. There, he sensed a faint ripple of killing intent.

The very instant his gaze swept over, Yao Ming, dressed in white upon that distant highland, likewise turned his gaze toward him. At the same time, from several other highlands, multiple gazes locked onto him as well.

"It seems the Little Thunder King, Jiang Jianli, Liu Mingfei, and the others have grown stronger once more!" Luo Hao's eyes flickered slightly. He could sense that the presence of these individuals had become somewhat unfathomable; clearly, they had achieved massive improvements over the past three days.

"This terrain is extraordinary! Four dragons guard the perimeter, and the great tomb is situated precisely at their intersection. Truly magnificent!" Standing on the same highland as Luo Hao, a martial artist holding a bronze compass surveyed the surrounding mountains and cried out in awe.

Hearing this, Luo Hao's expression shifted slightly. He turned, cupped his fists, and asked, "Sir, may I ask—wait, how is it you?"

When he looked up and clearly saw the person holding the bronze compass, the corners of his mouth twitched, and his face instantly fell. This fellow was stout and bloated, with a dark complexion and a pair of small, darting eyes spinning wildly.

Was this not Tong Tian, the very fellow who had conned and slipped away from him back within the Blood Spirit Secret Realm?!

"Oh! My dear big brother, my supreme big brother, I've finally found you!" The chubby little fellow Tong Tian was also stunned for a moment, then blinked his small eyes, looked at Luo Hao with an excited expression, and suddenly flung his arms wide to pounce on him.

"Get lost!"

Luo Hao kicked him flying with one foot. Little did he expect that the moment he turned around, the chubby little fellow Tong Tian had somehow already clamped onto his thigh. With a spin of his beady eyes, he whined to Luo Hao, "My dear big brother, just let me follow you! Even if you disagree, I'm sure sister-in-law will agree. Right, sister-in-law?"

As he spoke, he even blinked his small eyes at Ji Rou. Goosebumps instantly erupted all over the bodies of the surrounding martial artists on the highland, their dignity shattering into dust. They had seen shameless people before, but someone this shameless was a first.

"When did I become your sister-in-law?!" Hearing herself addressed this way by the chubby little fellow, Ji Rou's pretty face flushed red. Yet, in her heart, she felt quite sweet; this title of sister-in-law was actually rather pleasing to take.

Thus, she nudged Luo Hao's arm and said, "Junior Brother, I think he doesn't seem like a bad person. Why don't we let him follow us?"

It worked! The chubby little fellow Tong Tian felt a surge of joy in his heart. Thanks to his exceptionally high emotional intelligence, winning over the sister-in-law was far easier than winning over his dear big brother.

*Heh, doesn't seem like a bad person.* The fellow's entire face was dark—from exactly where did Senior Sister deduce that he didn't look like a bad person? Luo Hao felt a mix of laughter and tears, then cast a deep glance at Tong Tian. "Since Senior Sister has spoken, you brat can tag along with us for the time being!"

"Hehe, many thanks, sister-in-law!" The little fatty immediately thanked Ji Rou. Luo Hao promptly brought a palm down on his head. "Cut the crap. Judging by your appearance, you have quite a deep study of geomancy and terrain. Speak, what's the situation here?"

"Big brother, this place converges with four dragons, and the dragon veins are thick and rich. It is a land of heaven-sent creation and fortune. When the legendary Madman Chu Li chose this place as his burial site, he must have spent a great deal of effort. By the way, just a reminder—these four dragon veins are all living dragon veins!"

"What? Living dragon veins? No way!"

As soon as the little fatty uttered these words, Luo Hao was truly and deeply shocked. Four living dragon veins! As everyone knew, dragon veins were formed from the primordial essence of the earth's eight desolate realms, seizing the creation of heaven and earth.

Legend had it that dragon veins were not dead objects, nor did they belong to the myriad spirits of heaven and earth, yet they were capable of cultivation. Once one of them became an ancestral vein, it would be an existence powerful enough to shake an entire realm.

*I wonder if I can subdue a dragon vein?* Luo Hao calculated quietly in his mind, but quickly dismissed the thought. The most pressing priority was to enter the tomb of the legendary Madman.

"How much do you know about the Madman?" Luo Hao asked again.

"Boss, I don't know much about this. Ancient texts mention that the Madman was named Chu Li. This person was overwhelmingly powerful, once looking down upon all heroes at the Myriad Realms Ridge. The number of alien powerhouses who died by his hands was at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand."

"Rumor has it that the battle was earth-shattering, staining the entire Myriad Realms Ridge with blood and altering its very color." Li Tian逸 shook his plump body as he spoke.

"The strange thing is that ever since the battle at Myriad Realms Ridge, Chu Li mysteriously vanished, and no one knows where he went. Some say he was hunted down and killed by various alien races because of his slaughter of alien martial artists, though this claim has never been verified. However, one thing is true: the Martial Dao Heavenly Monument once followed this person!"

"Listening to you, this person doesn't seem like an unmitigated villain!" Luo Hao glanced down at the boundless stone forest below, then said to Ji Rou beside him, "Senior Sister, wait for me here. I'll go explore this basin's stone forest."

Ji Rou originally wanted to go with him, but seeing Luo Hao's resolute gaze, she silently nodded.

"Sister-in-law, don't worry, I'll go with big brother!" The chubby little fellow Tong Tian offered a respectful farewell to Ji Rou and immediately hurried to follow.

In fact, while the two of them were talking, others had already stepped into the basin's stone forest. When Luo Hao crossed into the stone forest and swept his gaze over these boulders, his expression instantly tightened. These were not mere boulders at all, but rows of towering, giant stone steles!

"This is a forest of steles!"