Chapter 169: Might of the Formless Sovereign
The sun rose slowly over the horizon, casting pale gold across the vast Verdant Mist Forest. But unlike the mundane world where morning light chased away fog, here the emerald mist clung stubbornly to the branches—a ghostly veil draped over the land, bound by some ancient, forgotten will.
Morning birds sang softly through the trees, their melodies woven with distant beast calls, forming a natural rhythm that breathed life into the forest. The air was fresh and cool, laced with the faint scent of blooming spirit flowers and dew-drenched leaves.
High above the forest floor, within the inner region, Su Tianhao sat perched atop a towering tree. Legs crossed in lotus position, eyes closed, breath slow and steady. Surrounded by golden, ethereal energy, he remained perfectly still—as though he had become one with the ancient forest itself.
The Shrouded Dragon Veil remained consciously active, holding him in a state of presence without presence. As his mastery deepened, his form began to subtly flicker—fading in and out like a ghost straddling the veil between two worlds. At times he looked less like flesh and more like a spirit, on the verge of vanishing entirely.
Su Tianhao's brow knitted. Though outwardly calm, his mind was anything but calm.
His perception sharpened like a blade piercing through layers of obscurity, his understanding of the fourth layer—Formless Sovereign—deepening with each passing moment.
Knowledge crashed against his mind like waves against a shore—relentless, unforgiving. But under his tempered soul power and unbreakable will, he absorbed it all.
Formless Sovereign. The pinnacle of concealment.
A technique said to grant the power to walk between the cracks of reality itself. A ghost that left no trace in the world. It was more than a technique—it was a state of being.
Not just power. Focus. Belief.
Even the faintest ripple of doubt, the slightest fear, the briefest flicker of self-awareness—could shatter the illusion entirely.
To master Formless Sovereign was not merely to hide from others—it was to dissolve the very notion of self.
Su Tianhao's breathing slowed further. His heartbeat faded beneath the rustling leaves. His thoughts no longer clung to form or name.
The ego, the presence, the self—faded.
And then, in that moment of quiet clarity, the truth arrived.
'To be unseen by others... I must first be unseen by myself.'
The instant those words resounded in his mind—
Boom!
It was like mist parting on a mountain cliff to reveal the summit he'd been aiming for. Everything became clear, and his mastery of the Shrouded Dragon Veil surged forward.
His form, which had been blurring between realities, stabilised for a moment—then began fading once more. His aura dimmed. His presence thinned. Until there was nothing.
It was as if there had never been a person on that branch. Not a sound. Not a rustle. Nothing signifying the presence of life.
Then a voice resounded from the empty space—faint, elusive, untethered from any source.
"Shrouded Dragon Veil... Perfection."
The words lingered in the air as if carried by the wind. As they faded, his figure materialised once more, still cloaked in ethereal golden energy, eyes still closed.
Then—slowly—his eyes opened, revealing two striking golden orbs that seemed to pierce the fabric of space itself. They glowed for a split second before returning to their natural hue.
Su Tianhao stared into the distance, a quiet smile on his lips. His expression was calm, but his clenched fist betrayed his excitement.
'Time to find somewhere to stay.'
He had already planned to remain in this forest for a full month. Staying in the trees the entire time was not an option.
His eyes swept the forest from his vantage point. 'The Verdant Mist Forest sits within the Mistveil Mountain range. Finding a cave shouldn't be difficult.'
Without further thought, he dropped from the branch. Despite the distance of over thirty metres, he landed cleanly—his figure falling like a star descending from the heavens. The impact absorbed without effort.
After steadying himself, he activated Formless Sovereign immediately.
"Formless Sovereign!"
In an instant, he dissolved into the mist itself—gone.
He passed several spirit beasts along the way, but none sensed him. Even powerful creatures capable of ending him in a single exchange registered nothing.
After a few minutes, Su Tianhao felt his spiritual energy depleting rapidly. At this rate, his reserves would be drained within seconds—and in that state, deep in the inner region, he would be no different from a helpless mortal. That wasn't just poor positioning. It was a death sentence.
'Although Formless Sovereign is powerful, this energy consumption is a serious flaw.'
He paused, shifting back to Phantom Cloak as his figure materialised. While not invisible in this form, his presence remained absent—and the swirling mist provided natural cover.
He exhaled and rested his back against a tree, brows furrowing.
Then his eyes brightened.
'The energy consumption is a critical flaw to others... but not to me.'
Su Tianhao stretched one hand into empty space, closed his eyes, and said a single word.
"Devour."
The vortex within his dantian roared to life. A strong suction force expanded outward, covering a thirty-metre radius.
Whoosh.
Spiritual energy surged toward him like moths to flame. No disturbance. No chaos. Just pure, deliberate control—driven by the Devouring Dragon Tactic.
Swoosh.
Energy flooded through his meridians. His greedy physique refined it all into pure spiritual energy, filling his dantian to the brim within seconds.
'That's more like it.'
He activated Formless Sovereign again without hesitation. Only through constant use could he unlock its full potential—and with the Devouring Dragon Tactic compensating for the drain, the flaw became irrelevant.
Half an hour later, he found what he was looking for—a cave, well hidden and inhabitable, positioned close to a water source. A perfect temporary residence.
Su Tianhao smiled and stepped inside.
The cave was wide. One half caught partial sunlight from the entrance. The other half was completely dark, cloaked in shadow.
He paused.
Dragon Instincts flared the moment he crossed the threshold.
As if in answer, a pair of eyes opened in the darkness—wide, glowing red, burning with primal fury.
Su Tianhao's pupils constricted as he read the aura.
'1st level grade four beast!'
His breath steadied, but his jaw tightened. Such a creature was equivalent to a 1st level Martial Core Realm expert. Fighting one head-on was a different matter entirely from what he'd ever faced before.
Roooar!!!
Without warning, the creature lunged from the darkness into the light.
Towering and broad-shouldered, its body was covered in jagged, slate-gray fur that looked more like stone than flesh. It stood over three metres tall, each step shaking the cave floor beneath it. Its most striking feature were its glowing crimson eyes—burning with territorial fury.
A Crimson-Eyed Rockmaw Bear.
The Crimson-Eyed Rockmaw Bear was a grade four spirit beast renowned for its powerful physique and earth-based defences. Fiercely territorial and possessed of a memory that never forgot an intruder's scent. Its jaws could crush boulders, and its hide was tough enough to deflect blades. And like all grade four spirit beasts, it could channel spiritual energy into direct attacks—an ability that was the defining distinction between grade 4 beasts and those below.
Su Tianhao's expression turned deadly serious, his mind already running calculations.
Roooar!!!
Another roar reverberated through the air, shaking the cave walls. Dust cascaded from the ceiling.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The bear charged—each step striking the ground like a war drum.
Su Tianhao's eyes went cold. Shadowfang flew from its scabbard with a single motion, the dark blade drinking in the surrounding light.
But he didn't charge to meet it.
"Formless Sovereign!"
His figure blurred and vanished.
The Crimson-Eyed Rockmaw Bear froze mid-charge, glowing eyes scanning wildly. Nothing. No presence. No scent. No target.
Su Tianhao—now invisible—locked onto the beast's exposed neck, steadied his grip, and moved.
"Shadow-Splitting Flash—Ninefold Death Flash!"
He reappeared.
Nine precise cuts bloomed across the bear's neck in a single fluid motion, clean and deliberate. Sparks scattered where blade met hide. Crimson blood seeped slowly from the wounds.
'Tch, tough body,' Su Tianhao noted with a frown before vanishing into nothingness. The cuts had connected—but none were anywhere close to lethal.
The bear roared in fury and snapped its head toward the direction of the attack.
Boom!
Its aura erupted in a surge of vibrant yellow energy. It drove a massive paw into the earth—a crater formed beneath the impact. Yellow energy surged through the ground, splitting stone apart. Trees outside the cave tore from their roots and crashed down like brittle twigs.
Earth Qi.
Su Tianhao had already anticipated it. He was already gone from that position before the paw landed.
Earth Qi—an elemental energy that could only be harnessed by those who had comprehended that element or were born with the innate capacity to wield it, as the Crimson-Eyed Rockmaw Bear had been. What made it particularly fearsome was that it wasn't only a weapon—it was also the most formidable defensive element in the known cultivation world.
The bear surveyed the destruction with a low, guttural sound that sounded like satisfaction. As a grade four spirit beast, it had no reason to believe a mere Martial Adept had survived that attack. It began lumbering back toward its lair.
Slash.
Su Tianhao struck again. Nine precise cuts, each landing on the previous wounds—driving deeper into the same points, opening the injuries further.
The bear roared. Its yellow aura flared violently. It stomped the ground again and again, each impact sending out crushing shockwaves that flattened everything in their path. Dozens of trees outside collapsed in waves, their roots torn from the earth.
Su Tianhao didn't flinch.
He struck again. And again. Appearing and disappearing in a heartbeat. Cold, precise, relentless—hammering at the same point with mechanical efficiency. Minutes passed yet the beast showed no sign of faltering.
'As expected of a grade four beast. Such immense vitality.'
His eyes sharpened as another observation formed. 'Shadowfang is holding me back. The weapon can no longer fully carry the weight of my techniques.'
Shadowfang was a quasi-peak-rank Mortal weapon—something most young cultivators would covet. But Su Tianhao had grown quickly, past the point where it was sufficient. He filed the observation away—it's better not to worry about it for now.
'I'll need to upgrade it after leaving the forest.'
According to Master Huan, Shadowfang had the potential to become a high-grade Spirit Rank weapon. And with the weapon-crafting knowledge inherited from his father, bringing it to peak Spirit Rank was not beyond him.
For now, he continued. The tactic held.
As the saying goes—even the hardest stone will split when struck at the same spot a thousand times.
Several more minutes passed. The bear began showing signs of weakness. Its aura flickered. Its movements slowed. The wound at its neck had deepened with every pass, and its spiritual energy was visibly draining.
'A few more, and it's done.'
Sensing the shift in tide, the Crimson-Eyed Rockmaw Bear abandoned its frenzied assault. With a guttural growl, its yellow energy condensed—hardening into a thick protective sphere of earthen light around its body.
'Defense now?' Su Tianhao's eyes narrowed. He wasn't surprised. Earth Qi was as formidable in defence as it was in offence.
'So what if you defend? Let's see how long you hold out.'
He struck at the barrier, again and again. With each impact the barrier weakened—but so did his own reserves. It had become a battle of attrition.
Ordinarily, Su Tianhao would lose that exchange. Not only was Formless Sovereign draining his spiritual energy continuously, but his sustained attacks compounded the cost. Against any ordinary cultivator, this would be a losing position.
But the moment his reserves dipped toward the threshold, he reached for the Devouring Dragon Tactic—and the surrounding spiritual energy surged into him, refilling what had been spent.
The world around him had become his fuel.
The bear had no such recourse.
Its barrier crumbled. The earthen shell shattered like glass under sustained pressure. Bloodied, weakened, and with nowhere left to draw from, the beast turned and charged desperately into the forest.
Su Tianhao didn't hesitate. His figure reappeared in a flash of crimson-gold.
Whoosh.
He shot forward, closing the distance in a single surge.
"Ninefold Deathflash!"
Nine flickering slashes burst forth like spectral blades, each one striking with merciless precision. Cutting deeper into its wound and snuffing out whatever vitality remained.
BAM!
The great beast collapsed in a pool of its own blood. It's once glowing red eyes—dull and lifeless.
"Hah..."
Su Tianhao exhaled heavily. Despite the Devouring Dragon Tactic sustaining him through the fight, the prolonged engagement had taken its toll on his mind and stamina.
He crouched beside the body, with one fluid motion, he made a clean incision—cutting the belly open.
From within, he withdrew a yellow glowing object the size of a fist.
A beast core.
Su Tianhao smiled. As a grade four spirit beast, the Rockmaw Bear naturally produced one.
'My first beast core.'
He noted, there something oddly satisfying about that. Ever since his awakening his opponents ranged from grade one to grade three spirit beasts. Naturally those beasts weren't strong enough to produce a beast core.
His smile widened as he stored it carefully in his spatial ring.
He turned his eyes back to the corpse. Devouring it would yield a significant boost to his cultivation base, he was only a 1st level Martial Adept while the beast was the equivalent of a 1st level Martial Core Realm expert—an complete major realm difference—but he couldn't risk it.
'Devouring this could trigger a breakthrough. And until I successfully cultivate the Supreme Dragon Vein Awakening Art, triggering a breakthrough would do more harm than good.'
The reasoning was simple. Rebuilding his foundation required a specific starting point—a breakthrough at the wrong moment would compromise everything.
He turned toward the cave.
'It is time.'