Chapter Twenty-Nine: Is There a Ghost?

Ancient mountain stream! At the summit, Luo Hao gazed down the mountainside in shock, his heart shaken by the devastation that stretched below. Senior Brother Liu lay on the ground, his bones shattered, his body collapsed like a heap of mud, unable to rise. The Dragon Ape had been blasted into the mountainside behind it, leaving a massive crater in the stone.

Both sides had suffered grievous wounds!

There was no doubt: the Dragon Ape and Senior Brother Liu had fought each other to mutual destruction. Yet Luo Hao, standing atop the peak, did not dare to reveal himself immediately—the battle he had just witnessed had left a deep impression on him. He waited for a long moment, confirming that neither Liu nor the Dragon Ape stirred, before stepping forward.

A streak of golden light flashed beneath his feet; Luo Hao’s foot landed softly on the ground. He looked down at the severely wounded Senior Brother Liu, whose breath was faint as a dying ember, and a sinister smile curled at his lips as he walked straight toward him.

“Senior Brother Liu, you don’t look well, do you?” Luo Hao spoke with a smile as he came to stand over Liu.

“It’s you? How are you here? Didn’t you leave already?” Senior Brother Liu stared at Luo Hao in disbelief, struggling to speak, while a sense of unease welled up within him.

“Hehe, Senior Brother, you’re badly hurt. As your fellow disciple, how could I abandon you at a time like this? Don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Luo Hao’s smile grew ever more radiant, outshining the sun.

Liu was startled, wondering to himself if Luo Hao had offended Senior Brother Murong and hoped for him to speak kindly on his behalf. That must be it.

“Very well, then I’ll trouble you to bring me back to Skysea Sect,” Liu said, forcing a smile uglier than a grimace, his bloodied face turned upward from the ground.

“Return to Skysea Sect? No, no, Senior Brother—you won’t need to go back,” Luo Hao’s eyes narrowed, a subtle murderous intent flickering within, his tone growing cold and hard.

Senior Brother Liu’s suspicion grew, “Junior Brother, didn’t you say you’d help me?”

He was so badly injured he could hardly move. If Luo Hao abandoned him here, he would inevitably become food for the beasts of the wild.

“Oh, right—my mind must have slipped. Senior Brother, I will help you. I will help you be freed from this suffering!” Luo Hao’s dazzling smile vanished, replaced by an icy, merciless expression, like a demon lord gazing down at Liu, murderous intent pouring from his body, chilling Liu to the marrow and making his soul quiver.

“You... you can’t kill me, or else...” Senior Brother Liu tried to protest, but Luo Hao merely curled his lip.

“Do you know why the Dragon Ape kept attacking you all? It was because of this.” Luo Hao drew a Blood Essence Fruit from Liu’s storage pouch. Under Liu’s venomous, terrified glare, he revealed the fruit—its golden patterns had faded.

“So it was you! You slaughtered your fellow disciples, you demon, you devil!” Remembering the dreadful fate of the fallen Ziwei Pavilion disciple, Liu ignored his wounds to curse Luo Hao in fury.

Luo Hao glanced down at him with contempt. “Well said. When you plotted against me and betrayed your fellow disciples, you should have expected this outcome. Now, I’ll help you be free.”

Without another glance or heed to Liu’s struggles or curses, golden dragon energy surged from Luo Hao’s body. The dragon’s roar echoed, and in Liu’s agonized screams, his body was blasted into a cloud of blood mist.

Luo Hao did not spare the blood mist a second glance. Anyone who dared to plot against him deserved death. Had he not learned in advance of Ziwei Pavilion’s scheme, it might have been him dying here.

This ancient land was a ruthless battlefield—only the strong survived, the weak perished. Luo Hao exhaled a long breath and looked at the storage pouch in his hand. “With this, things will be much easier from now on.”

Such treasures as storage pouches were coveted by Luo Hao since his first days in Skysea Sect, noticing how some disciples possessed them. Yet the contribution points required to obtain one were astronomical for a newcomer.

Though he had a storage ring gifted by his cheap master, his current strength was too low. If the ring were exposed, trouble would come in droves.

Stowing away the pouch, Luo Hao turned his gaze toward the deep crater in the distant mountainside. From within, a faint aura still leaked out.

“Not dead, after all. As expected of an ancient descendant—a wound this grave, yet it still clings to life.” Luo Hao leapt onto a boulder jutting near the crater, peering down.

Inside the pit, the Dragon Ape’s colossal body—dozens of yards long—was cracked and bleeding, the wounds revealing the terrifying force contained in Liu’s punch. Blood flowed from the fissures, tinged with gold.

Even the golden blood carried a subtle air of nobility. The golden patterns on the horn at the ape’s brow had dulled, and the pressure it once radiated had faded.

The Dragon Ape, seeing the figure atop the boulder, opened its bloodshot eyes in fury—it sensed the Blood Essence Fruit on Luo Hao.

“Heh, big guy, save your roar. The fruit is with me now—but I fear you won’t live to enjoy it.”

A grimace twisted Luo Hao’s face; resplendent golden dragon energy surged forth. From beneath his sleeve, his golden fist gathered overwhelming force, smashing mercilessly toward the Dragon Ape’s head.

A dragon’s roar mingled with a tiger’s growl; the shadow of a peerless tiger formed, and at that moment the golden fist merged with the tiger’s phantom paw, descending as if the hand of a god to crush from the heavens.

The void shattered; golden dragon energy seemed poised to overturn the sky itself. At the realm where martial arts became divine, the power of the Doomsday Tiger Technique multiplied many times over.

Sensing the mortal threat looming overhead, the Dragon Ape howled, its bloodied face twisting with madness. Demonic energy surged forth like black clouds blotting out the sun. With a roar, a blood-soaked hand emerged from the black mist, meeting the descending golden fist.

A thunderous crash! The golden fist collided with the Dragon Ape’s hand in midair, demonic energy surged, threatening to swallow the golden light, but the golden dragon energy was ancient and noble, its force righteous and fierce. From Luo Hao’s fist, golden dragons and tigers howled forth.

Golden light flooded the sky, illuminating the world; the black demonic energy was shattered by the dragon’s power. The Dragon Ape howled, its hand disintegrating under the golden force, crimson and gold blood splattering the mountainside.

The golden dragon energy poured down like a starry river. Luo Hao’s golden fist struck with punishing force, driving the Dragon Ape’s head deeper into the mountain.

A sickening crack—the skull collapsed, the sound of breaking bones chilling to the bone. The Dragon Ape’s massive body erupted in countless fractures, and in a rain of blood, the mountain stream’s overlord, a late-stage level two beast with ancient blood, was utterly extinguished.

Golden dragon energy faded; Luo Hao stood atop the boulder, gasping for breath. “This Dragon Ape truly deserves its reputation as a level two beast with ancient blood. Even gravely wounded, its final strike was so powerful.”

Gazing at the massive corpse before him, Luo Hao wondered if without his dragon energy and mastery of martial arts, slaying even a wounded Dragon Ape would have been a daunting task.

“Give it to me… give it to me…” Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind, ethereal as shifting clouds, impossible to discern male or female.

Cold wind howled through the mountain stream; Luo Hao shivered as he heard the eerie voice, his hair standing on end. “Don’t tell me… there’s a ghost here?”